In With The Old, Out With The New
by handidandi
Summary: Trying to get their lives back in order, Sonya and Johnny work on their failed marriage. When an old threat is presented to the Cage/Blade family, they are forced to evaluate what's important, family or old rivalries? *Spoilers* Takes place right after the battle at the Sky Temple. Also featuring other characters. **Sequel "Repair, Rebuild, Renew" is now up**
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Mortal Kombat and its characters are the property of Netherrealm Studios. I do not intend to make profit over this fanfiction. Only the plot is mine.

 **Author's Note:** This takes place pretty much right after the end of story mode of Mortal Kombat X. I thought I would have some fun and try to get back into the swing of writing, so I decided to have a little fun with the parody website Friendships featured on Cassie's fatality. It'll be serious but will feature MK elements and story mode merged with the up keeping of modern technology of the 21st century. Hope you guys like it.

* * *

 _Flashback:_

 _General Sonya Blade ran into the Sky Temple with backup. "This way! In here!" she told the team. Slightly turning to them, she gave out her orders. "Isolate Shinnok and D'Vorah. And get the medic." She quickly observed the situation at hand; Shaolin Kung Jin was tending to Raiden's near fatal wounds as her daughter Sergeant Cassandra 'Cassie' Cage was speaking to her father, Johnny Cage. Johnny was in pretty bad shape having been the subject of D'Vorah's nasty bug cocoon. Running over to Johnny and Cassie, Sonya took a better look at the situation she was faced with. She stood on the other side of her ex-husband, a pang of guilt (and possibly dread) hitting her in the chest. "We'll fix you up. Help is on the way," she informed him, her voice softening a bit._

 _Despite his pain and discomfort, Johnny smiled at his daughter. "You should've seen Cass," he began, his voice strained but filling with pride, "wiped the floor with Shinnok." Cassie beamed modestly, still waiting on the approval of her superior officer (and mother)._

" _I believe it," Sonya complimented. It was only then Cassie allowed herself to relax. "And you. You did a great job with your team, Johnny." Realizing how close she came to losing him, Sonya tried to fight off the weird nagging feeling of nostalgia even though her mouth hadn't gotten the memo yet._

 _Johnny seemed to notice this first, followed by Cassie's internal epiphany. Johnny let out a small chuckle. "You hear that Cass? She called me 'Johnny'," he gloated his daughter._

" _I thought she might," Cassie responded to him as Sonya stared in adoration._

 _The last time Sonya referred to him as Johnny was right before their divorce was finalized. All of the memories they shared together came flooding back as the family of three awaited further assistance. She took his hand tenderly and gave it a gentle squeeze, asking a silent question. He reacted in kind, squeezing her hand back and giving her his prized movie star smile with a hint of something else only former lovers could read on one another. Maybe there was a chance for reconciliation yet._

* * *

 _Two weeks later_

Cassie is glad to be back at home in her room after saving Earthrealm from the threat of Shinnok. As a reward for their valiant efforts, General Blade has given Cassie and her team a month off from service. They were allowed to return home and relax as they saw fit. In a short amount of time, Sonya has tried to reduce her work load so she can spend more time with her daughter while Johnny was able to go back into training after having his injuries healed.

Browsing the web in the sanctuary of her loft styled room, Cassie pops her bubble gum as she hears a ping on her computer coming from yet another tab she has opened. Switching to the tab, she looks at her profile on Friendships, her favorite social networking website. There's another ping. Upon closer observation, Cassie notices her best friend Specialist Jacqueline Briggs has started a new conversation with her. Jacqui sent her a picture of her and her beau Takeda Takahashi on Venice beach. Both were enjoying a drink inside of a giant coconut. When she realizes the type of straw inside, Cassie laughs as she chews her gum noisily. Jacqui writes, "This is amazing. I really do wish you were here."

 **Cassie Cage:** I'm surprised you two aren't poolside right about now. Lol

 **SassyJacqui:** Nah, there is a pool, but there is a beautiful breeze out here. We do have umbrella drinks as promised :)

 **Cassie Cage:** I see that. How is "Keeda" by the way?

 **SassyJacqui:** He's good. We're great but we do miss home. We'll be back sooner than you think, Sergeant ;)

 **Cassie Cage:** No rush here. I'll find a way to occupy my time… been meaning to download new music on my phone. Go on, enjoy your vacation.

 **SassyJacqui:** Will do. Miss you girlfriend. Later!

 _ **SassyJacqui**_ has logged off

Cassie smiles to herself. She's extremely happy her best friend has found happiness with Takeda. Given her past situations, Jacqui deserves her love life and vacation. Cassie then sighs. Putting on her headphones, Cassie leans back and re-opens a tab to listen to her new music without a care in the world. Unbeknownst to her, trouble's beginning to brew.

* * *

Sonya's in her office finishing last minute paperwork pertaining to the events at the Sky Temple. She vows to get the longest body rub she could find in the state of California, even if it means getting one from one Johnny Cage. _Johnny_ , she thinks to herself with a smile. She and Johnny were in the process of reconciling their marriage. There was never any love lost between her and Johnny even though some may beg to differ. She couldn't take back the years she spent confined to either her office or out on the field, but she could repair what was lost by starting over. Starting over meant not taking her job too seriously and paying more attention to her family. Starting over also meant not taking on as many assignments.

Sonya's in a good place in her career; she made it all the way to General of the Special Forces, something her father Herman would've been proud of her for. In chasing her career, her family suffered as a result and she vowed to do her best to make it up to them. She started with giving Cassie and her team a month off from duties. She almost thought about giving the members honorable discharges, but both Cassie and her goddaughter Jacqui protested, so this was the best she could do for them. Shaking herself out of her reverie, she continues to look over the documents of completed assignment.

After a few minutes, Sonya reaches the end of the document where she has to sign her initials and give her stamp of satisfactory completion. With a content sigh, Sonya writes _SB_ on the bottom of the page. Now all she has to do is stamp it. She looks for her stamping tool but it's nowhere to be found. Sonya frowns, thinking she's supposed to have it on her desk. "That's weird…" she says to herself as she ducks under her desk.

"What's weird?" a voice says, startling her enough to bang the top of her head against the underside of her desk.

"Ow, goddammit," Sonya grunts as she pops back up while rubbing her head. She looks up to see the man in her thoughts as of late wearing a plain fitted white t-shirt and loose jeans. "Shit, you scared me, Cage," she says, looking through her drawers.

With a cocky grin on his face, Johnny folds his arms as he stands by the threshold of her office. "Aww, are we back on a last name basis, baby?" he coos flirtatiously.

Sonya glares at him and then turns her attention back to her desk, fighting the blush creeping up on her face. "What did I tell you about calling me baby?" she questions him. She finally finds her stamp and turns back to the last page of her 30 page document.

Johnny sits on the edge of her desk. "You said not to call you that," he answers her obediently. She does a double take when she sees him sitting in such close proximity of her. "But, once upon a time, you said not to say it in public. Last time I checked, we were in your office and no one is allowed past your secretary."

Stamping her document with the official Army Special Forces seal, she stacks some papers on her desk and sighs at his antics. God, she missed this, but God, he's irritating her at the moment. It didn't help her case she was reminiscing on the better times when he used to surprise her in her office. "So, what pathetically charming excuse did you use to get past Blake?"

He dramatically slams a hand on his chest. "Ooh, you wound me Sonya. I just used the pathetically charming excuse of wanting to take my darling wife out to dinner," he tells her. She stops her movements and gives him a long hard stare.

"Ex-wife," she says before kicking herself mentally. Shaking her head, she busies herself some more by searching for something ( _anything_ ) aimlessly in her desk. She couldn't bear to see his reaction to her correction. If they're supposed to be working things out, shouldn't he be allowed to refer to her as his wife now? But they aren't officially back together, they're just in reconciliation. Confused and frustrated, she looks up and sees Johnny stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Didn't we agree to indulge each other, Sonya?" he asks her. Sonya puts her head on her desk in response. "So indulge me. Let me take my soon-to-not-be-ex-wife out for lunch, or at least a walk. You've been in here since when, 600 hours?" Before she could retort with the real answer (4:30 am), he continues, "That's not the point. You've been here for hours and I'm sure you could use a break." Standing back up, he walks around her desk and holds out his hand. "Care to join me, General?"

Sonya looks at his outstretched hand, traveling her gaze further upwards to see a grin grazing his features. It occurs to her then he had a bit of crow's feet and some wrinkles across his face. Despite this, she still views him as one of the most devilishly handsome men she's ever laid her eyes on. Plus, he's the one who introduced the idea of reconciliation even if the divorce was his idea. She smiles back at him, takes his hand, and allows him to pull her to her feet. "Okay, we'll go get lunch," she tells him. "But don't call me baby in public, John."

"Can't guarantee that I won't, honey," he teases in a sugary voice. She shakes her head at him. He holds the door open for her as they both leave her office.

* * *

In her room, Cassie is asleep on her chair listening to her music with her feet kicked up on her computer desk. A loud ping jolts her awake, making her instantly go into a defensive position. When her heartbeat slows down a bit, she calms down and jiggles her mouse to wake her computer up from its hibernation state. The ping came from a chat notification on Friendships.

 **KanO's:** Hello there blondie.

Cassie's heartrate speeds up again, this time in anger. Suppressing the urge to curse him out and vomit, Cassie takes a deep breath and starts to type out a response.

 **Cassie Cage:** What do you want, scumbag?

 **KanO's:** Oi! You ought to be a little nicer to me, hey? Was just passing down and saying hello. I didn't know yer ma n' pa decided to get back together. How sweet that is.

 **Cassie Cage:** You leave my mother alone!

 **KanO's:** I ain't got to bothering yer mum now, blondie.

Just then, her phone rings. She looks at the caller I.D and sees that it's a blocked number. _Great_ , she thinks. Not wanting to entertain Kano's antics anymore, she closes his chat window and answers the phone with a curt, "Sergeant Cage."

"Turn around," the male voice tells her in an Australian accent.

Cassie narrows her eyes dangerously. "Excuse me?"

The voice repeats itself, sounding much closer to her than over the phone, "Turn around."

"I don't know how you got my number, but I am not in the mood for your games!" she tells him just as she turns around. She gets a straight jab to her nose for her efforts. Temporarily stunned, Cassie has no time to prepare herself for the kick to her ribs which knocks her down and her phone out of her reach. Her mini bookshelf crashes to the floor spilling books all over. Coughing in pain, she rolls over to see Kano in all of this glory towering over with a menacing smile on his face.

Kano takes out a dagger from his back pocket and points it to her forehead. "You do look so much like yer mum. Such a pretty thing you both are. Too bad Miss Sonya Blade doesn't know how to follow instructions, incompetent Americans you lot," he tells her. She kicks the dagger out of his hands and stands back up, ready for a fight.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but you leave my mom out of this!" She gives him a roundhouse kick to the jaw and tries to follow up with a right hook, which is parried with his hand and followed with a punch to the gut. She doubles over as Kano seizes the opportunity to elbow her in the back. Before she can fully fall to the floor again, he grabs her and backhands her extremely hard, sending her to the other side of her room. Cassie isn't going down with a fight though. She stands back up and charges at him assaulting him with a barrage of jabs and hooks. Most of them hit her intended target, but a few misses is costly to her. Kano grabs her by the neck and begins to squeeze the sides of her windpipe. Unable to escape her chokehold, Cassie gasps for air. "Let… me… go!"

Kano responds with another squeeze. "Too bad," he tells her as he brings her closer to his face, "I'm just getting' started." He drops her and she falls unceremoniously to the floor. Kano then covers her mouth with a cloth soaked in chloroform and she instantly passes out. Just then a green portal is waiting for him on the other side of her room. He grabs her by the legs and drags her towards the portal before they both disappear. Kano returns to drop a calling card on the floor for Sonya to find on her own time. Smirking evilly to himself, he leaves again, the portal closing behind him once again.

* * *

Sonya and Johnny are returning to Johnny's mansion after spending a few hours with each other. "Hey, Punkin!" Johnny calls out, "your mom and I are home. We brought leftovers!" After not receiving an answer for a few moments, he tried again. "Cass? We brought leftover Thai pad noodles, cooked the way you like?" He finds it strange Cassie isn't answering him; she loves Thai food. "Cassie?"

"Cassie!" Sonya tries this time. "Are you home?" No answer. Call it a mother's instincts, but something doesn't feel right to Sonya. Running upstairs to Cassie's room, she expects to see either a note from her daughter addressed to Johnny or her daughter in her room taking a cat nap. What she sees instead is Cassie's room door ajar and her books all over the floor. "Cassie?" Even though she doesn't like it, she hopes her daughter would jump from a corner and scare the shit out of her. Crossing the threshold of Cassie's room, Sonya notes her daughter's phone on the floor and her earbuds abandoned in a corner. "JOHNNY!"

Hearing his name being called out, Johnny runs upstairs to see Sonya staring at the calling card Kano left in shock. He sees his daughter's room in disarray before taking note of what Sonya's pointing to. By Cassie's phone there's a note pinned on the floor by Kano's favorite weapon. The note reads, "She screams just like you, too."

* * *

 **A/N:** That's it for chapter 1. There's more to come later. I would love and appreciate any and all reviews. I hope I'm doing the characters justice, seeing as how they're some of my favorite characters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Mortal Kombat and its characters are the property of Netherrealm Studios. I do not own any of the characters, only the plot.

 **Author's Note:** Second chapter is up now. I have no idea where I'm going with this honestly, but we'll see.

* * *

Cassie's room is closed off with caution tape a few hours later. Sonya stands in shock outside her daughter's room while Johnny does his best to console his… Sonya. She has a hand over her mouth unable to move, which is how her friend and comrade Jackson Briggs found her. "Sonya," he says while he puts a metal hand on her shoulder. Sonya blinks. "It's not your fault Sonya," he continues to tell her. All she does is blink in response, completely catatonic to anything else but her daughter's room.

Johnny walks up to Jax and sighs. "She's been like this since we came home to this…" he tells his friend sadly. Jax bows his head in thought. "I know Cass put up a fight because there's obviously a struggle, but still. That's my little girl he has. That bastard Kano's gonna pay."

With fire in her eyes, Sonya turns sharply to the two men. "Kano," she growls, her primal motherly instincts kicking in again. "I'm gonna kill him with my bare hands." Turning sharply, Sonya brushes past Johnny and Jax down the stairs. They follow her as she grabs her jacket and leaves the house in a rush. "He's gonna pay," she growls as she wanders the streets purposelessly. Both men are behind her just in case she decides to do something rash.

They follow her all the way back to the base, through security (Johnny almost lost track of her because it took a while for him to gain clearance), and into her office. She sits down at her desk and boots up her computer. Jax crosses into her office, keeping his distance but curious to see what she is doing.

Not long after, Johnny finds the two in her office. Johnny goes over to her desk and looks at what she's doing on her computer. Sonya has found a way to get through the encryption on Cassie's computer to gain access to her personal records online. This leads her to her Friendships account. Scrolling through her profile, Sonya almost misses the conversation, but Johnny is able to point it out. "Wait! Go back?" Sonya growls in response. "Sonya? Please, allow me?" Sonya leans back and allows Johnny to go through a conversation between Kano and Cassie. "'I ain't got to bothering yer mum now, blondie'?" Johnny reads aloud. Jax scowled. Johnny knows this isn't enough information to tell him if this immediately led to their confrontation, but he knows Kano was watching Cassie and was just biding his time.

Sonya let a tear slip down her cheek. "I should've killed him when I had the chance."

* * *

Cassie comes around to see pitch black. She tries to clear her vision but ends up with a pounding headache. She tries moving her limbs to discover she's bound to something like a chair or a pole. Struggling against her bonds, Cassie tries to untie her hands. Her attempts are futile; all she manages to do is tighten the bonds around her hand. If she doesn't stop moving, she'll lose feeling in her hands and arms. "F—" she tries to say aloud. Her mouth is taped shut. _Fuck me_ , she thinks instead as she tries to wiggle out of her bonds some more.

Just then, a door opens, temporarily blinding her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Cassie groans. When she opens her eyes again there is a light turned on over her head and none other than Kano is standing in front of her. She tries to escape again until she loses a bit of feeling in her fingers. "Aww, dearie, are your knots tied too tightly?" he asks her in a sickly sweet voice. She grunts and struggles again. "What's that, love? I can't hear ya," he says, leaning into her. He decides to be nice and removes the tape from her mouth. She spits in his face in return. He backhands her. "Oi, is that the repayment I get for allowing you to speak?"

"Fuck you, Kano!" Cassie spits angrily at him. He backhands her again in the other direction. She yelps as her cheeks are burning with the repeated contact.

"Why won't you learn to behave?" he scolds her.

"Let me go, you fucking creep!"

"Aww, you know I can't do that, now can I?"

"You think my mom was hard on you before?" she challenges him. "Wait till she gets her hands on you this time around." Despite the fear sneaking up on her, Cassie laughs indignantly. "You won't even stand a chance!"

Kano whips out his blade and runs it gently across her face. She tries to move away but only serves to worsen her headache. Kano then began to speak to her softly, "Though you have your mother's looks, your sharp wit is that of your unworthy father's. Didn't you confide in your friends once that you felt like a second rate Cage?" Cassie's heart rate speeds up. How the hell did he know about that? Kano continues to circle her like a vulture, taunting her with his knife. "Well, maybe I can talk to you better than your mum, eh?"

Cassie takes a deep breath and exhales sharply. "You're trying to cut a deal with me, Kano?"

He smirks in response. "I'm not sure you want to make a deal with me blondie," he warns her as he strokes her neck. She tries to move away from his slimy, unwanted touch.

* * *

Back at the Cage residence a couple of hours later, Kenshi decides to teleport in, sensing trouble. He sees Sonya curled up on Johnny's lap on his couch and Jax is pacing. When Jax notices him, he stands up to greet the swordsman with a rough handshake. "Good to see you, Kenshi," Jax tells him politely.

"Yes, though under disturbing circumstances. Can you show me?" Kenshi asks Jax. They both look to Johnny who non-verbally gives his consent. The two men go upstairs to Cassie's room. Upon entering, Kenshi senses what may have happened in the room. Holding one hand out, he begins to sense the events. _Cassie answering her phone sharply. Kano is behind her, telling her something. She turns around and gets punched in the face by Kano. A struggle ensues. He kicks her forcefully but she recovers. He quickly overpowers her, and while she is down he covers her face with a cloth. He picks her up and throws her into the portal. He then writes a note and attaches it to his dagger._

Snapping back to reality, Kenshi shakes his head a few times. Jax looks at him curiously. "What'd you see?"

Kenshi continues to ponder the disturbed images he saw. "Well, the obvious is there was a struggle," he starts to explain, "but Cassandra was taken by surprise and quickly overpowered. I sensed Kano's animosity towards Sonya since the Refugee Camp. I also get the feeling that this is part of a big scheme to get back at Sonya."

Jax sighs. "As if being kidnapped once wasn't enough," he laments, remembering what happened to Cassie and his daughter almost 6 years ago. "We've gotta find her, and quick. There's no telling what he'll do to her if he got the chance." Kenshi nods, agreeing with Jax completely. Both men make their way downstairs where they see Johnny downing a glass of scotch. "Hey," Jax nudges him. Johnny looks up sadly. "We think Kano took Cassie to the newly established Black Dragon HQ in Outworld. He may want to settle the score with Sonya by exploiting her rage for him," Jax explains as Johnny gives himself another refill.

Johnny sighs into his drink and says, "Yeah, I know. He's trying to bait Sonya. Knowing her though, it might just work. She's wanted to get her hands around Kano's throat since—"

"I can't say that I blame her completely, you know," Jax tells him. Of course Jax knows about the Sonya/Kano feud. Hell, he had his _own_ score to settle with the weapons dealer; Kano duped them all into thinking he was on their side until Sonya and Jax found out he was the mastermind behind the elite Black Dragon faction.

Swirling his drink around in his glass, Johnny rasps, "I want to go after Kano, but we have to do this the right way. As much as I want to and _will_ kill him if he hurts a hair on Cassie's head, we have to prevent further retaliation." Johnny pours himself a generous amount of liquor into his glass and knocks it back.

Jax eyes him warily. "Isn't it a bit late to be drinking so heavily?" Jax questions him. They both look at the time on the microwave and sees that it's 3 in the morning.

"That clock is an hour fast," Johnny drawls in response. Jax raises an eyebrow at him.

While conversation is happening between Jax and Johnny, Kenshi is trying to communicate telepathically with his son Takeda. _Takeda, your help is needed urgently. Come to the Cage house as soon as you're ready. Bring backup if you can,_ Kenshi thinks, hoping he can reach his son as soon as possible.

* * *

Takeda wakes up with a start. Looking around his pitch black room, he discovers he's still at the Venice Beach Suites and Hotels in Venice Beach. He turns on the lamp on his side of the bed and shakes his head. He just had a weird dream way too vivid for his liking. Someone stirs in the bed on the opposite side of him. He turns to see Jacqui changing sleeping positions, though she might actually be waking up due to Takeda's movements. Wanting to figure out his dream, he nudges her softly. She moans softly in response. "Jacqui?" he whispers, nudging her again. This time, she wakes up and faces him. "I need your help with something," he tells her when he has her full cooperation.

Jacqui yawns in response, stretching her arms above her head. She takes a quick glance at the bedside clock and sees that it's just past 2 in the morning. "What's up?" she asks him. "Is everything okay?"

Takeda shakes his head. "I'm not sure. It might have been a dream, but I just need to make sure," he says as he feels around the bed for his smartphone. When his fingers touch it, he picks it up and checks his social media accounts.

Jacqui places a soft hand on his shoulder. "What was your dream about?" she asks him gently, reminding him of his initial reasoning for wanting to talk.

"Right, yeah," he says as he shakes his head. "In my dream, I saw Mr. Cage and your dad talking to my dad. Mr. Cage seemed really angry, your dad seemed really concerned and my dad… I think my dad was trying to tell me something?"

She turns on the lamp on her side of the bed. "Do you remember what it was he tried to tell you?" she questions, trying to figure out more about the dream.

"I don't know. Something about danger and needing my help?" Takeda shakes his head. "I have no idea…"

She gets up and looks around for her own phone. "Maybe I should check up on them. I haven't heard from Cass in a while," she says more to herself as she logs into her account. She writes Cassie again.

 **SassyJacqui:** Hey Cass, you awake?

She then tries to contact her dad.

 **SassyJacqui:** Hey dad. Is everything okay?

Then she tries her aunt Sonya.

 **SassyJacqui:** Hey Aunt Sonya. Are you okay?

Jacqui is semi-patiently waiting for an answer from her dad or godmother while Takeda is trying to get a hold of his dad. She gets a ping back.

 **MadJax:** Hey sweetheart. Sorry to cut your vacation short, but we need you and Takeda to get back to Johnny's house ASAP. We'll let you two in on everything when you get here.

 **SassyJacqui:** Sure thing, dad.

Doing a double take, Jacqui writes her dad again.

 **SassyJacqui:** Wait… what do you mean about Takeda and me?

 **MadJax:** You think I don't know you're on vacation with Kenshi's boy? (Jacqui cringes when she reads this) Don't worry; I'm not mad (she visibly relaxes). But we do need you both back here. You may have to lead the team this time. Get some rest. Love you.

 **SassyJacqui:** Love you too, dad.

 _ **MadJax** has logged off_.

"'Keda," Jacqui calls out to him. He looks up at her. "Did you get in contact with your dad yet?" He shakes his head. "Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I think we just got a new mission."

Barely recovering from their last mission, Takeda groans. "Do we have to?" he whines as he fusses with his still bruised abdomen injury.

"I'm afraid—" she starts when she notices him messing with his wound. "Would you stop fucking with it? It's not gonna heal any faster if you bother it." He scowls at her. "Anyway, I'm afraid so. Well, it was nice while it lasted." She crawls back into bed, hoping to settle down again while turning off her lamp. He crawls into bed after her and snuggles into her unhurt shoulder. She yawns again. "My dad knows about us, by the way." Takeda freezes in place. "Don't worry; he's cool about it… surprisingly."

Takeda yawns and pulls the blanket over the two of them. "Well, as long as they don't know _every_ thing," he says as he plants gentle kisses on her neck.

"Mmm, you'll have to talk to your dad about that," she tells him, stroking his bare chest.

He snickers, "I'll remember that." He turns off his lamp as he kisses her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, that's the end of that chapter. Here's a sneak peek of the next one.

" _But… she wrote me back today. Said she missed me and she had a surprise for me." Jacqui sees Sonya and Jax stiffen up. "Uh… guys? What's going on?" Jacqui immediately flies off the mouth with her first assumption, "Are you two getting married or something?!"_

 _Sonya glares at her goddaughter. "Really, Jacqui?" Jax asks his daughter incredulously._

 _Wanting to get straight to the point, Sonya blurts out, "Cassie's been kidnapped."_

 _For a moment, there is silence. Then, Takeda says, "Not again!" He face palms his forehead._

Reviews and follows are appreciated. Stay tuned.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own Mortal Kombat of any form. It belongs to Netherrealm Studios and Ed Boon. Thanks.

 **Author's Note:** Third chapter. How will Jacqui take to finding out that her best friend is missing? Find out here and more with this next chapter. Onward!

* * *

The next day, Jacqui checks her phone incessantly as Takeda packs up their stuff into Jacqui's Ford Expedition. "I _really_ don't want to go back yet. Didn't General Blade give us an entire month off?" Takeda whines for the umpteenth time for the morning. Jacqui chuckles at her phone. "What'd I miss?"

Jacqui looks up from her phone and smiles at Takeda. "More like what didn't you miss? Jin just being an ass like usual," she says as she laughs. He goes over to her and stands by her shoulder as he chuckles at Jin and Jacqui's banter involving him.

 **KungJin:** Just don't give your dad a reason to beat up Keda.

 **SassyJacqui:** Lol! As if I want to. Well, see ya, gotta get back to my dad. Apparently there's more trouble in Outworld. Hold down the Shaolin fort for us. We might need you back. More details later.

 **KungJin:** I always do. Bye

 _ **KungJin** has logged off_.

"Ready?" she asks Takeda. He shakes his head at her, eliciting a sigh from her. "Me neither, but I'm dying to know what happened."

"You think Cassie knows and won't tell us what's going on?" he asks her as she starts the engine.

Jacqui shakes her head. "Even though she's my superior in S-F, she's my friend. She would have told me if _did_ know. Speaking of…" Before she moves the car, she checks her phone once more, sending a message to Cassie.

 _ **SassyJacqui**_ **wrote on** _ **Cassie Cage**_ **'s page:** Keda and I are on our way back today. Can't wait to see you! BTW, do you know what's going on?

Jacqui puts her phone near the cup holder and puts the car in reverse, preparing to back out of the parking lot.

"Wait!" Takeda barks at her, causing her to slam on the breaks harshly. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Selfie?" Jacqui glares at him before ultimately complying with him. She leans into him and poses with her fingers in a peace sign as he kisses her cheek. Satisfied with the picture, he nods and puts it on Friendships. A few minutes later as they are on the highway, Takeda sees that Cassie wrote on Jacqui's page.

 _ **Cassie Cage**_ **wrote on** _ **SassyJacqui**_ **'s page:** Miss ya too, girlie. Have surprises for ya later today ;)

"And you were worried, Jacqui," Takeda starts to tell her. She glances at him from the corner of her eye. "She wrote you back. She apparently has a surprise for you?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jacqui smiles and says, "Knowing her, she's probably planning a wedding for us."

"Why would she do that?" he wonders aloud.

She shrugs. "Dunno, but she's wildly perceptive," she responds with a wink.

* * *

 _Day two of this hell. Or is three? Fuck, I can't even keep up with the days_ , Cassie thinks to herself the minute she wakes up. She only knows it's day because she can hear birds chirping outside the window. Her throat is dry and scratchy and her stomach is feeling squeamish from the lack of food. One of Kano's mercenaries did try to force feed her, but she regurgitated the contents of her stomach the minute his back was turned. Trying not to focus on the growing stomach pains, she turns her attention to her head again. Her neck bothers her from sleeping in such an awkward position on the chair she's tied to. She tries to wiggle out of her bonds again. It only hurts her even more. Slamming her body against the chair in frustration, she lets out a string of mumbled curses underneath her taped mouth.

Just then, the door to her dungeon opened. _Great,_ she thinks to herself. Kano's back in her face. "'Ello, love. Did ya sleep well?" he asks her. She musters up the fiercest glare she can before she notices a bottle of water in his hand. Her throat is parched, as if she swallowed a giant dust bunny. But, she will not succumb to her desires because she's afraid he'd poison her. Her stomach decides to betray her. _Bitch ass_ , is her withered thought at her body. "Aww, are you hungry?" Knowing she couldn't answer him, he laughs menacingly while ripping the tape off her mouth.

"Son of a bitch!" she screams in his face, her cheeks stinging and her throat burning.

"Ya don't look so good blondie," he tells her. He opens the water bottle for her. "Open," he commands. She doesn't comply. "Aren't ya thirsty?"

"No," she snarls.

Kano smirks evilly. "I don't think I believe you. Now open!" He tries to force her mouth open but she fights him the entire time. He lunges back at her, holding her nose open. Due to her military training, Cassie is able to hold her breath for a full minute before she sputters. Gasping for air, Kano takes this opportunity to force the water down her throat. Most of it travels down her esophagus and shirt, but some gets stuck in her windpipe, causing her to cough violently. Her coughing leads to dry heaving due to the lack of nutrients to her system. "There," he declares triumphantly, "isn't that better?"

"Fuck off!" she spits at him angrily.

"Don't talk to me that way, little girl!"

 _Why don't you just fucking kill me and get it over with?_ Cassie growls in frustration as Kano leers over her. He notices her thin white shirt is soaked through, revealing her dark colored bra. Breathing heavily, Cassie asks, "What the _hell_ are you staring at?"

He flips his favorite knife in his hands over and over again. "You know," he laments, "I _was_ going to kill you. But then I ask myself, why would I do that when you're worth so much more alive?" _Don't show him mercy or weakness,_ Cassie chants in her head over and over again, desperately trying to calm down. _He's not actually thinking about what I think he's thinking about. You show him fear and he'll give you fear,_ she continues to tell herself internally. She stares him down defiantly. "I told your mummy dearest not to piss me off, didn't I? Now you get to pay the price and meet the fury of Uncle Kano." Without warning, he punches her in the face so hard she topples over with the chair, knocking her out cold. He then picks the chair back up and takes out his phone. He snaps a picture of himself and Cassie and sends the picture to Sonya's Friendship page, tagging Cassie in the picture. "There ya go, love," he says as he leaves Cassie alone in the room.

* * *

When Jacqui pulls up to Johnny's house, she sees her dad's Hummer and Sonya's Harley in the driveway. Nudging Takeda awake, Jacqui announces their arrival. "Huh?" he says, slightly groggy from his impromptu nap.

"We're here. Let's go," she says as she parks the car next to her dad's. They both get out and Jacqui lets herself into Johnny's house. The sight of Sonya and Jax greets her pleasantly. Until she realizes their somber expressions. "Hey Dad, Aunt Sonya," she starts apprehensively, "what's wrong? And where's Cassie? Is she back in training or something?"

Jax holds up a hand to stop Jacqui's questions. "Cassie isn't here right now, sweet pea," Jax says, not wanting to directly tell her the situation. Sonya begins pacing around, muttering to herself. Jax only catches something along the lines of, "Still active on Cassie's page."

Takeda hears this. "Who's still active on Cassie's page?" he asks his former C.O.

Jacqui rolls her eyes. "Only Cassie would be active on her page. No one else has any of her passwords. Not even me," she tells him matter-of-factly.

"Well," Jax starts as Sonya stands next to her friend. "You see… uh…" There's no easy way for him to break the news to his only daughter. He knows she'd be devastated over the news. "Cassie's page has been compromised."

Jacqui looks at her dad in confusion. Takeda is looking back and forth between the two adults. "I'm sorry, you said her page has been compromised?" he asks them. Jax nods as Sonya growls.

"But… she wrote me back today. Said she missed me and she had a surprise for me." Jacqui sees Sonya and Jax stiffen up. "Uh… guys? What's going on?" Jacqui immediately flies off the mouth with her first assumption, "Are you two getting married or something?!"

Sonya glares at her goddaughter. "Really, Jacqui?" Jax asks his daughter incredulously.

Wanting to get straight to the point, Sonya blurts out, "Cassie's been kidnapped."

For a moment, there is silence. Then, Takeda says, "Not again!" He face palms his forehead.

Jacqui feels time slowing down. "But… how can… when did… how?" she asks in disbelief. "No, no, no, this is a dream. You're both lying. Cassie is gonna surprise me any moment with something, _any_ thing!" Jacqui covers her ears with her hands, closes her eyes, and chants, "La, la, la, I'm dreaming and I'm gonna wake up." When she opens her eyes again, Jax folds his metal arms, Sonya throws her hands in the air, and Takeda pinches the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. Jacqui runs upstairs to Cassie's room, the three of them hot on her heels.

When she gets there, she sees Cassie's room untouched since the incident save for her phone lying on her computer desk. Jacqui sits down on Cassie's computer chair and gingerly toggles the hibernation mode off and her page is on display. The time stamp for Cassie's message on Jacqui's page was at 11:13 am, right before they left Venice Beach. "Oh, my God!" Jacqui scoots away from the computer as though the mouse has burned her hand. On display for all of her friends to see, Cassie's page shows that she has been tagged in a photo with Kano posted to Sonya's page. Cassie is knocked unconscious with a bloody nose and a wet shirt while Kano is on her side with his arm around her shoulder. The caption for the picture reads, 'Meeting Uncle Kano for the first time. What fun to be had, mum!'

Sonya leans in to see what has Jacqui hyperventilating over. She sees the picture on her page and slowly backs away from her daughter's room. Takeda and Jax are trying to console Jacqui as Sonya disappears again.

* * *

Johnny is in the gym pounding away on a punching bag as one of his Special Forces comrades is holding the bag. The angrier Johnny gets, the harder he punches, making it harder for his friend to control the swing of the bag. "Whoa, hey Cage, calm it down, will ya?" his friend tells him.

"Can't. Just spoke to Colonel Flagg. Says he can't do anything at the moment without my ex-wife's say so. Ex-wife is trying to find a way into Outworld again. Says she's gonna kill him on sight. 'Can't do that without a plan, General', I tell her. She tells me to fuck off," he explains as his rage is building over. At this point, his fellow comrade lets go of the punching bag. With one final kick, Johnny separates the bag from its overhead securing and it goes flying across the gym, narrowly missing Sonya. He looks up to see her walking over to him briskly. "Oh, _here's_ the woman of the hour," he says sarcastically while folding his arms. She mimics his movements and stares him down. "We _need_ to go to Outworld, Sonya. Bring Kano to justice."

"And I said we will send a team over there as soon as we know his exact whereabouts!" she yells at him. "We can't just go back in there without a plan, Ca— John… dammit, we need a plan," she says as she shakes her head in frustration. Johnny continues to stare her down. "After that showdown with Cassie and her unit against Kotal Kahn and his forces, we don't know where their allegiance stands. Outworld blame _us_ for Shinnok's amulet not being safe guarded." Sonya gently pries Johnny's hands from his chest. "Please Johnny, trust me on this?" She caresses his forearm and looks into the pool of blue that are his eyes. His anger and irritation fades; replaced with sexual tension as Sonya continues her ministrations on her ex-husband's biceps. She doesn't realize what she's doing or the reactions it's eliciting from him. All she knows is no matter how much she wants to obliterate Kano, she wants to also save her daughter. They both need to be cool-headed or else they'll risk their only daughter's life.

"Fine," he tells her with a strained voice. "But you've got 48 hours to figure this shit out. After that, I'm going in," he warns before he side steps her and leaving the way she came in. She let out a breath of relief she hadn't realized she was holding.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ooh Sonya, sexual tension much? What do you think Sonya is gonna do? Is she going to go to Outworld herself, or is she going to find a team to do that? This and much more coming up in the next chapter. Everyone's reviews have been so good lately, and I want to do this story justice, so please continue your support. It is welcomed (flames are not welcome, though).


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own Mortal Kombat or any of its properties. Only the plot is mine.

 **Author's Note:** Warning: a fight scene is coming up. It is an M rated fanfic for a reason. Also, I may be on a roll now, but I might get blocked up. I'll try to fight through it because I want to actually finish this and my other fanfics. Without further delay, here's this chapter.

* * *

"When you all get to Outworld, have the team split up and keep their eyes open for anyone who looks like they could be in Kotal Kahn's or Kano's corner," Sonya tells the Lieutenant of the third team she sends out. "When you locate anyone, report back to me; do not try to retaliate. I repeat, do not retaliate!"

"Yes ma'am," he replies as he disconnects their call.

Sitting by the door in her office, Sonya slides down to the floor, burying her head in her hands. She's fighting a losing battle; the first two teams she sent out failed miserably and it was her fault. She sent them completely and totally unprepared for their invasion. As a result, the first team suffered many casualties at the hands of the soul collector Ermac. The second team, though she debriefed them better than the first, didn't stand a chance against Erron Black and his companions. She warned the team not to follow in their fallen soldiers' footsteps and keep their movements to a minimum. This is what she was afraid of… not that she didn't have faith in the team that Cassie built and Johnny trained, but she didn't want them to go after the Black Dragon for that very same reason. It's a selfish move on her part, but she can't think of anything else. Her mind is completely muddled.

There is a ping on her phone, indicating someone's trying to reach her somehow. She's afraid. The last time she got any sort of notification, it was a disgustingly bitter reminder she was somehow shackled to the will of her most hated enemy. On second thought, it could be the third team making progress already. She apprehensively checks her phone and sees she's received a new message from the Grandmaster of the Shirai Ryu, Hanzo Hasashi.

 **GonzoHanzo:** General Blade. I do not wish to disturb you or your affairs, but something has come to my attention you must know.

Confused, Sonya stares at her phone in shock. _Hanzo created a Friendships account?_ She muses before deciding to answer the chat.

 **SonyaTheBlade:** Hanzo. While I'm glad to hear from you, this comes as a surprise to me.

 **GonzoHanzo:** What, me having an account, or me writing you unexpectedly?

 _Both,_ she wants to say, but decides against it.

 **SonyaTheBlade:** Your account.

 **GonzoHanzo:** I blame both your daughter and my protégé for making this infernal account.

Sonya's heart drops at the mention of her daughter who's going through only the Elder Gods know what. Trying to keep her tears at bay she laughs through her pain, imagining Takeda and Cassie forcing him to make an account to "keep up with the times". Hanzo continues to write her.

 **GonzoHanzo:** I have a mole within the Black Dragon faction. He has told me some disturbing news regarding Cassandra.

Her heart speeds up. She has an ally working with Kano? This could be the break she needs.

 **SonyaTheBlade:** Please, tell me everything you know. I've got less than 48 hours before John takes matters into his own hands. I'm desperate.

* * *

In his home that night, Johnny's taking a very cold shower, one almost rivaling the temperatures of a certain cryomancer. Despite the frigid temperature, his body is on fire, still burning from the subtle touches of his ex-wife. No matter how many fights they get into in their past, Sonya still manages to keep a choke-hold on his heart and skin. He pounds a fist against the bathroom tiles in frustration as the pain creeps up on arm. The very same arm _she_ assaulted with her sensual touches and her fiercely dictatorial eyes. _"Please, Johnny, trust me on this?"_ she tells him in his memory which serves to bore a hole in his head. This was about the 28th time since Shinnok's invasion and defeat she has called him Johnny, he realizes in his head. Counting the times makes him look like a madman, but he'll be damned if he ever forgets a woman like General Blade. He only ran away from her after telling her she had 48 hours to get her shit together because he was afraid of what he might've do to her.

A few minutes later, he leaves the shower and settles into a pair of dark gray sweats and a matching colored wife beater. He begins pacing around his living room until he decides to go into his kitchen and help himself to a glass of scotch.

And this is how Sonya and Kenshi finds Johnny, his bottle almost empty and his head bowed over his drink. "This is a new record," Sonya says as she glances at the clock. It's only half past 8 in the evening. Johnny looks up at her with bloodshot eyes.

"Didn't expect to see you here," he tells her slowly, his voice altered by his alcohol. "What's the update?"

Sonya stares at him incredulously and Kenshi begins telling him about Hanzo's spy in the mercenary faction and his impending participation in extracting Cassie from Outworld safely. Kenshi's story is interrupted by Sonya grabbing the bottle out of Johnny's hands as she smacks him upside the head with her other hand, causing Kenshi to jump and Johnny to cough and sputter. " _This_ is how you want to solve all of your problems?!" she berates him.

Kenshi, thinking she is referring to him, immediate goes on the defensive, stating, "I was merely suggesting Hanzo—"

"Not you, Kenshi!" she snaps at him. Turning back to her ex-husband, she repeats, "I _said_ , is this how you want to solve your problems?" She stares Johnny down as he slowly looks up to face her wrath. She narrows her eyes at him. "Answer me!"

"Fuck off, General," he retorts childishly.

Sonya lets out an indignant huff. "Real mature of you, John!"

Kenshi's growing discomfort becomes too much for him. "I'll be taking my leave now," he mumbles awkwardly as he backs away from the lover's spat taking place in front of him, not like the two of them noticed him leaving.

"You're one to talk, Sonya," he retaliates.

"Well, what else are you doing to save our fucking daughter? Do you know how many teams I have out there risking their lives?"

"Oh," he starts, standing up (albeit wobbly), "You could be out there helping, too! Instead, you're lecturing me about my problems!"

"I'm not the one drowning my problems in a bottle!"

"And I'm not the one who uses work as an escape from mines!"

They both freeze. They hit each other below the belt, something they promised each other they wouldn't do, no matter how bad things got with one another. They give each other a hard stare before she turns away with her arms folded, blinking back tears and he sits back down on the kitchen island. "Christ, Sonya, I know you said we were wrong from the start once upon a time," he starts to say in a measured tone. She scoffs, choking back a sob. "But when did it become this bad?"

She swallows, not wanting to relive their painful past. "I don't know," she says, tears falling in rapid succession now. She desperately tried to keep them at bay but it wasn't working. "I don't fucking know," she shouts in frustration. He sighs deeply. "Why do you treat me this way, John?"

He looks up, completely baffled at her question. "Treat you how?"

She turns back to him, not bothering to hide her emotions anymore. "I keep pushing you away and you could easily tell me to get out of your house, but you're not. You're still here. You've always been here. It's like you never really left." Sonya begins to sob in her hands. Johnny closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Even when I started moving up the ladder, you never left me," she says mournfully as her sobs get more and more uncontrollable. Johnny gets up and wraps his arms around her while she weeps in his arms, cursing herself for pushing him away and cursing him for taking a long time to actually walk away from her. Her crying makes him sober up almost immediately. They stay there, just holding each other for what seems like hours. When her tears finally die down a little bit, he directs them both to his couch. Still holding her, he shifts so they are both more comfortable. "I'm sorry," she croaks after a long time.

He sighs and shifts her in his arms again. "There's no need to be, Sonya," he tells her honestly. He hates seeing her in so much pain no matter how much she may have caused for him. "We weren't perfect together."

"I could've tried harder," she sighs.

"There were plenty of things we _both_ should've done," he starts, "but we don't have to make the same mistake twice, you know. Besides, we need to refocus our energy into finding Cassie."

Sonya exhales, wiping her eyes clumsily. "You're right. You're absolutely right. But I just can't focus right now."

"Breathing exercises help," he offers. She gives him a watery smile and takes a few deep, cleansing breaths, exhaling slowly. "See? Isn't that much—" his sentence is cut off by Sonya smashing her lips against his hungrily. It takes Johnny a few delayed moments to comprehend his current situation before he reacts. He gently pulls her away from him, not the reaction they both expected from him. "Sonya—?" he asks a silent question.

"I need you right now," she tells him as she crawls into his lap.

"But Sonya—" he starts again but is cut off once again by her lips.

"Shut up, John," she murmurs into his lips as she grabs the back of his head, deepening the kiss. Finally, he kisses her back, trying desperately to match her fervor.

* * *

 _Two weeks ago_

 _After visiting her father in the hospital, Cassie and her team were going separate ways. Takeda and Jacqui would go on vacation somewhere in California while Kung Jin was going back to the Shaolin Temple in China. "Be careful out there, guys," she told them, giving the two boys a handshake each and her best friend a tight hug._

" _Will do, Cass," Takeda told her._

" _And you," she pointed to Takeda, "you take care of my sister. Or else you'll be hearing from the Briggs and Cage/Blade families." He laughed. "I'm serious. I don't want to have to send a SWAT team to your hotels if you don't keep in touch with me at all times."_

" _Almost all times," Jacqui muttered. Cassie turned to her and scowled. "I'm kidding. We'll keep in touch as much as possible."_

" _Good, cuz I wasn't giving you a choice. That was an order," Cassie told Jacqui before she pulled her in for another hug._

 _Kung Jin looked at his colleagues one more time. "Remember, if you find yourself in Outworld or the Netherrealm with no other way to escape, you have the right to defend yourself by kombat," he offered his last piece of advice._

 _Cassie rolled her eyes. "I doubt it'll come to that, but sure, I'll try to remember that," she told him. The four then went their separate ways._

Cassie wakes up with a start in the evening. How'd she manage to sleep the entire day away, she won't understand anytime soon. All she knows is there's the feeling of dried blood on her face and the familiar feeling of hunger. Before she can make sense of everything, the door to her hell opens and Kano struts over to her. "Slept well, blondie?" he asks. She ignores him. "Well then, here's your dinner." He breaks off a piece of a sweet roll and tries to feed her. She doesn't budge. "You ought to learn that the more you fight me, the worse it's gonna get for you. Now eat before I shove it down your throat!" He guides the piece of roll to her mouth and she begrudgingly accepts, her mouth instantly watering at the taste of the slightly sweet particle of food. He breaks off another piece and she takes it without a fuss, trying not to cough up a sob.

After he finishes force feeding Cassie, Kano's about to leave when she clears her throat, signaling she needs his attention. He turns to her. "I want to cut a deal with you," she says, her voice scratchy from the lack of water. She clears her throat again when Kano stares at her in disbelief.

"Oh, really?" he asks her with his arms folded, stroking his now greying beard.

Cassie closes her eyes, fighting the urge to roll them at him. She takes a deep breath before she says, "I'm challenging you to kombat. I win, you let me go, and I won't even tell Sonya what happened. You win…" She couldn't even finish the thought. There's no way in hell she's going to lose to this 'old man'. For a long time, there's silence. Just when Cassie starts to doubt herself, Kano unties her. "That worked?" she asks herself in disbelief.

Cracking his knuckles, he warns her, "I ain't goin' easy on ya because you're Sonya's little brat."

Cassie balls up her fists with a look of fierce determination crossing her features. "I don't expect you to, old man." She gets into her fighting stance as he does, too.

"Old man? You're more like yer mum than you think. I wonder if you fight like her too?" he taunts. She strikes first, hitting him with a few simple but effective jabs in rapid succession, which catches him off guard. She fakes another jab, letting him catch her fist before she kicks him twice in the ribs, forcing him to let go. Now he's angry at the brat. He lunges, kicking her in face, making her stumble back. He then grabs her left arm and flings her across the room.

Shaking himself off, he tells her, "So you want to play dirty like yer dad, eh?" Walking up to her, Kano grabs her and twists her arm into a spider roll twist behind her back. Using his weight against him, Cassie flips him over her back. She goes for a kick but he trips her. Undeterred, they both stand up quickly, her doing a backflip to catch his jaw with her foot. She then knees him in the stomach, followed by an elbow punch on his back. Before letting him fall to the floor, she uses her other knee to crack his nose with so much force he comes back up, followed by a double fist punch, a la Sonya. She gives him a round house kick for good measure and he rolls a few feet away from her, groaning and coughing. Cassie then resumes her boxing stand.

"I think I won this round, huh?" she brags, waiting for him to get up.

Wiping his nose with the back of his hand, he growls at her. "I let you win that one. Now, I'm angry," he informs her before charging at her like an angry bull. She easily side steps him, but he grabs her from behind and flips her over. She lands on her shoulder, hearing a crack. Biting back a groan, she rolls over just in time to dodge his kick to the ribs.

Cassie stands up unsteadily and a series of parrot punches and kicks, which Kano parries with his own hooks. She nails an uppercut to his jaw, followed by a right and left hook respectively. He kicks her in the throat, pushing her backwards but not quite knocking her down. When he runs up to her again, she reacts with a head butt to his forehead, nearly crunching him in his cybernetic eye. She swings her fist at him but he ducks. She swings her other fist at him and he catches her with a somersault in the air, knocking her to the ground. Before she can recover, he kicks her swiftly in the ribs, causing her to roll with the blow. His third kick makes her crawl into fetal position. When she got up, he sucker punched her, knocking her to the floor again with a strangled cry.

"Get up blondie. I'm not done with you," Kano declares. Cassie gets up and shakes the cobwebs from her head. "I told ya I didn't want ya to cut a deal with me. Prepare as Uncle Kano give you a lesson in—" his 'victory' speech is cut off by Cassie performing an ax kick to the back of his head. He collapses on the floor in shock but quickly recovers. She then produces a karate chop to his neck, bruising his jugular vein. He sputters and chokes, holding both hands to his throat.

Cassie takes this opportunity to catch him with a series of ruthless attacks: sharp jabs to the nose, a shadow kick to his chest, a roundhouse kick which lands on his waist, and ending with another roundhouse to trip him. When she tries to kick him in the groin, he seizes her leg and twists her ankle, bringing her to join him on the floor. They both take a moment to gather their bearings and get up from the floor. Kano whips out his butterfly knife, brandishing it at her. "Oh, fuck," she mutters before she dodges his jabs successfully, narrowly missing impaling herself on the blade. He charges at her with the knife and they both fall down. He's trying to stab her between the eyes but she has her wrists interlocked together and is using all of her strength to keep it from making contact. Just when the tip of the blade is about to make contact with her forehead, she kicks him off of her. He falls backwards and before she can give him a chance to recover, she finally kicks him in the groin, causing him to drop his knife and hold himself. She slowly walks over to him and presses her bare foot to his neck with the intent of choking him to death. "Do you submit?"

Kano stares at her incredulously. "You don't have the guts!" he jeers. She presses her foot further into his neck. "All right, I submit!" he chokes. Not wanting to take the chance, she puts even more pressure until his face turns red and he begins to cough. "You'll… never get… out if… you…" he chokes.

She realizes what he's trying to say and eases her foot off of his neck. She won, so she needs him to release her. "You lose, grandpa," she heckles him in return. It's only then she becomes aware of the acute blinding pain coming from her scapula. She groans, wanting to escape this nightmare. Cassie starts to walk to the door Kano came from before she's suddenly dragged backwards by her hair and thrown to the floor. She screams as a fast blow to her face by his boot catches her in the jaw.

He grabs her by the throat and squeezes her windpipe harshly. She's coughing and trying to pry his fingers away, but that only makes him squeeze harder. "You may have won the battle, but there's no way in hell you'll win this war, blondie," he growls before he climbs on top of her, securing her in place with his muscular thighs. "Now, you're definitely gonna pay with a fate worse than death."

* * *

 **A/N:** Cliffhanger! I know you all are gonna kill me for the next chapter. *prepares to be slaughtered like a lamb* I know the fight scene seemed lacking because I don't have any formal fighting training (I only have a bit of stage combat training), so I apologize if the actual fighting made them both seem like they're inexperienced fighters. I'll take suggestions on how to improve that and feature it in a rewrite. As always, reviews and thoughts are welcome. Thanks again for reading.

P.S, I'll probably be taking a few days off due to the fact that my hand is swelling up because of my Carpal Tunnel. I apologize in advance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Mortal Kombat in any form, not the games, not the series, not the comics, nothing.

 **Author's Note:** This might serve as more of a filler chapter than anything, but I still consider it important because it'll lead into the next chapter's events. There's more M rated material coming up including a sex scene (or two, one isn't exactly consenting). **Trigger warning**... Read at your own risk.

* * *

Throwing her on the bed harshly, Sonya lets out a squeal as Johnny climbs on top of her, kissing his way down her jaw and latching onto her neck. She struggles to take off her clothes: first, her protective uniform jacket, and then her plain white shirt, followed by her white tank top. They begin kissing again as both of them work on getting her bra off. Once the offending piece of clothing is off, she takes off his wife beater and runs her hand down his chest. She moans as he grabs a handful of her breasts and he groans as she runs her fingers up and down the length of his back. He begins to knead her ample C-cup breasts in his hands, pinching and rolling each pert nipple between his fingers. She moans deeply as she arcs her back towards him. He kisses his way down her chest and gathers a nipple in his mouth, suckling on it softly as he continues to pinch the other one with his fingers.

Running her hands through his hair, she moans his name softly. "Mmm, Johnny," she hisses when his fingers begin to dip lower. She helps him take off her pants, giving him the freedom to hook his fingers around the band of her underwear and pull down, exposing her to his hot hands. Drawn to her center like a magnet, Johnny begins to slowly circle a thumb around her sensitive nub. Inching his way back up her neck, he slips a finger inside as he nibbles and sucks on her neck. She guides his hand deeper, creating more friction by bucking her hips to match his rhythm.

Johnny stops his movements and watches in amusement as Sonya comes undone, trying to get him restarted by thrashing about wildly. "Relax, Sonya," he croons in her ear, licking the shell of her earlobe softly. She inhales sharply and he chuckles. He remembers it as her weak spot.

"You're not exactly moving fast enough," she breathes into his face.

"Always the patient one," he states sarcastically as he kisses her deeply, their tongues fighting for dominance. They pull away noisily and Johnny lowers himself, intent on replacing his fingers with his tongue. Johnny feels Sonya's heartbeat quicken in anticipation. He kisses the inside of her thighs, causing her to tense up. "Nervous?" he teases as he licks her once, slowly and deliberately.

"Shut up, John," she whimpers as she grabs his hair with her fists. He teases her clitoris with his tongue before sucking gently, eliciting a moan from her. "Oh, God Johnny," she wails, bucking her hips as she relishes in the delicious sensations. Johnny holds Sonya in place gently with his hands without missing a beat. After a few torturous minutes, he stops his movements and stares deeply into her eyes. "Why did you stop?" She asks thinly, trying to control her breathing.

"Because you can't be in charge all the time, baby," he answers as he slowly pumps two fingers in and out. Not bothering to correct him, she moans again as she gathers his silk sheets in her hands. He feels how close she is to her orgasm, so he continues to pump his fingers in and out of her while he noisily feasts on her. Shortly, her moans turn into high pitched whimpers. Wanting to finish her off with his fingers, he detaches his lips. "That's it honey, come for me," he coaches her as she grips the bed tighter. He crawls up to her neck and plants little kisses all over.

"Oh, fuck Johnny, yes!" She screams as she becomes unhinged, her body jolting furiously with the arrival of several violent orgasms. Her juices coat his digits, soaking them and making them sticky. When her convulsions settle down, she uses her strength to flip them both over. She hesitates for a brief moment, wondering how and when did he find the time to remove his sweatpants. Banishing a thought to the back of her head, she begins to rub her now sensitive clit against the tip of his penis. She changes her mind, slinking down his body until she comes face to face with his member. She tentatively begins to stroke him. Sonya is a little bit out of place, having been so swept up by work she hasn't had the time or opportunity to perform any sexual acts on another man.

Taking a deep breath, she circles the head of his penis with her tongue, waiting for some sort of sign of approval. She hears a low, guttural groan from him, almost begging her to continue. She licks her lips and takes his entire length down her throat slowly, making sure to keep her suction consistent. "Christ, Sonya," he moans.

Sonya gathers up her stoic confidence and begins bobbing her head up and down at various speeds, twisting her hand as she goes along. Johnny, surprised and excited over her performance, contemplates holding her head for guidance but quickly remembers her thoroughly disliking the feeling. Making an exception for the night, she eases his worries by using her other hand to bring his to her head. She whips out the barrette securing her long hair in place, letting the golden locks flow freely. Running his hands through her hair, he holds her head gently as she continues her ministrations. The sensations become more intense when she uses her other hand to give his testicles a massage. When she feels him approaching his orgasm, Sonya uses her hands to finish the job. He spills his seed all over her hands and face.

When she's done, she crawls back to him and they share a passionate kiss, rolling around the sheets. He finally gains the upper hand, pinning her wrists firmly to the bed. "Permission to enter, General?" he teases her, reminding each other of a conversation they shared the week before.

"Granted. Under one condition," she pants as he rubs the tip over her opening.

"Yeah?" he inquires, dropping a smooch to her neck, "what's that?"

"Don't hold back," she answers him breathlessly.

He thrusts upwards burying himself to the hilt. "I wouldn't dream of it," he replies as she wraps her legs around his hips.

* * *

The nightmare keeps replaying itself in her head, no matter how hard Cassie tries to shake it out. Nothing in her training had prepared her for a situation like this, not even Kurdistan. The horrible things she saw during her bid in the Iraqi region made her physically and emotionally sick. That was nothing compared to the monster existing within the Black Dragon leader. Hell, her mother was barely prepared for him. Another image flashes through her mind, forcing her to shut her eyes. It doesn't block it out though, and Cassie's forced to relive the ordeal through her own head.

 _Kano crawled on top of her, squeezing his way through her thighs with his knees. Cassie tried to scream but he held her mouth shut. She tried to thrash and kick him off but was unsuccessful yet again. As a last resort, she scratched his face. That only made him angrier as he delivered two punches to her face. She spilled tears and blood from her face, almost positive her nose was broken. He held her throat as he roughly yanked her cargo pants down her waist and bunched them up around her knees. Please, by the Elder Gods, don't let him do this to me, she thought as she tried to kick him off. He yanked down his pants and held up one of her legs. "Fighting makes this worse, princess," he taunted her as he forced himself in. She wailed for her parents as he continued to work through her roughly. She tried use her hands but he held them both in place, grunting as he thrust into her roughly. "Yer parent ain't gonna save ya," he tells her as he begins moving faster and faster._

Cassie curls up into a tight ball and begins to weep, sobs wracking through her entire sore body. Kano violated her in the most degrading way possible. She holds herself tightly, trying to remove the muscle memory feeling of his hands all over her. She feels what those women in the camps felt and she hates it. She hates herself for even drawing attention to her person with her side mission. _That's what this is about anyway_ , she thinks to herself. _I was getting close and he didn't like it._ She has no way of contacting anyone and curses herself for encrypting her own files. She could use some of Takeda's telepathic powers to beg someone to find her. Just then, another image flashes through her mind. She closes her eyes again, not bothering to fight the memory off.

 _After what felt like hours, he let out one last grunt before removing himself from her body. She was a fighter, that one, but he managed to break her resolve after the first few minutes of their struggle. She lied there, catatonic and numb as he pulled up his pants. He bent down to her level and smirked, obviously pleased with his work. "There, there," he said, patting her cheek. She winced. "Don't fret. I think you've learned yer lesson now, eh?" He stood up again and left her alone to her thoughts._

The door opens and Cassie's heartbeat hastens. She'd rather be dead than deal with him again. She closes her eyes, pretending to be asleep. Whoever entered the room set something down,metal hitting the floor with a _clink_. She opens one eye to see a metal tray with food lying on the floor. It isn't much: a spoonful of string beans, a pathetic slice of chicken, and a bread roll. There is a thin piece of paper sticking out of the tray. Then the person speaks to her, "Read the note, then eat it."

She opens her other eye to see a masked man staring at her with... remorse? "Poison," she mutters as she closes her eyes once more. She wouldn't be surprised if Kano tried to poison her on top of everything else.

"Not poisoned," he responds to her. She squints at him. "Read, then eat the note. Trust me." She scoffs inwardly. Sensing her mistrust in him, the man pulls out a flip phone and shoves it under her nose. "Don't let him find this. I'll be back to collect. Read, then eat," he repeats once more before he stands up.

"Name?" she manages to croak out, hoping the mysterious man would hear her. He does, and he turns back to her.

"Yuri," he says before leaving her.

After a few moments of hesitation, Cassie unwraps her arms from her body to touch the phone gingerly. She latches onto it and flips it open, seeing it's actually a high tech internet enabled phone complete with a full QWERTY keyboard. She then looks at the note and reads it: "I know about you, Cassandra. GMHH speaks highly of you. Use this to communicate. Then destroy the evidence. Y.O"

Oh. Without further hesitation, Cassie balls up the note and stuffs it into her mouth, surprised it dissolves upon hitting her tongue. She navigates her way through the phone to find the internet. Not wanting to draw too much attention to her contacts, she composes a quick message to her mother on Friendships. She then opens a chat window with Jacqui.

 **CassieCage:** 145939N1030614E. EncrypOnComp. NIOW.

Hoping Jacqui works through her message, she logs off, careful not to leave her digital imprint on this mysterious stranger's phone.

* * *

Rather than birds chirping their sweet morning songs, a few beeps startle the two lovebirds awake. Rolling over in bed, Sonya grabs her phone and looks briefly at the notification she has just received on the home screen. She closes her eyes, emotionally drained and at a loss for thoughts. Unaware of her mental suffering, Johnny strokes her cheek softly, mesmerized by her beauty. He's about to say something along those lines when she suddenly bursts into tears. Startled, he sits up and stares at her. "I've failed my own daughter!" she cries.

"Whoa, hey," he says as he gathers her in his arms and holds and rocks her gently. "Where'd that come from?"

Without a word, she shows him her phone. He stares in disbelief at the message, which is simple but effective.

 **CassieCage:** Sparrow. NIOW. Love you Eagle and Dove.

Sonya may have misinterpreted the message as a goodbye note from her daughter, but Johnny knows exactly what his little princess meant. "She's a smart kid," Johnny says as he continues to hold Sonya. She looks up at him, silently probing. He sighs. She's going to kill him, but she needs to know. "I may or may not have sent our daughter to do some side work."

She musters a glare at him, but fails because she hiccups and sniffs. "Explain," she states.

 _The Week Before_

 _Springing apart, Johnny sat on his ex-wife's computer while the General herself walked around her office. There was a knock on the door, followed by a feminine voice who calls out, "General Blade?"_

 _Just then, Sonya's phone rang. Not wanting to answer the phone in his presence, she answered with a curt, "General Blade. Hold." She crossed over to the door and opened it to see her daughter with her knuckles poised over the door again. She gently pushes past her while she began to speak on the phone again._

 _Mystified by her Commanding Officer's behavior, she turned around to leave before hearing her dad call out to her. "Come in, kiddo."_

 _Cassie walked into the office and saw her dad with a look of fierce determination on his face. She pointedly chose to ignore the blossoming red splotch on his neck and said, "You needed me, Dad?"_

 _He looked up and beckoned her to the computer. She complied and stood over his shoulder. "See, I was thinking. Shinnok's amulet should have been kept safe and sound, right?" She nodded in agreement, waiting for him to continue. "Only a natural born Earthrealmer would have even an ounce of opportunity to breach the security procedures needed to guard it, right?"_

 _Cassie nodded again, realizing where her dad was going with his train of thought. "Kano. He **was** the one who stole the amulet and replaced it with the duplicate," she told him._

" _Exactly. So it was his fault this whole deal started. I don't know if your mother connected the dots yet, but I definitely did." Cassie rolled her eyes and silently cursed Kano for his involvement. "I get the feeling Kano isn't too happy with Sonya for her tactics at getting him to confess, so he could be planning to retaliate. Thing is, I'm not sure if he's waiting out here. He may be waiting for an opportunity to strike in Outworld. Here's where I need those beautiful brains of yours."_

 _Cassie smirked. "Lemme guess. You want me to see if he's struck a deal for mercy with Kotal?" she asked him._

 _He snickered. "You really are a smart kid, you know that?" he told her as he patted her shoulder. She beamed at him. "Let's have this stay between you and me for the time being, huh? I'm just slowly getting out of the dog house with your mother."_

 _She frowned. "I… I don't want to hide this from her, Dad," she told him._

" _We won't be hiding it," he reassured her. She gave him a pointed look. "Okay. We'll only tell her under two conditions. Either a) one of us finds a break, or b) one of us becomes endangered. Deal, Sergeant?" He held out a hand for his daughter to shake in good faith._

" _Deal, daddy-o," she agreed. "But… what would happen if the latter comes to fruition?"_

 _Johnny stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I doubt it'll come to that, but you've got a point, kiddo. Hmm, I'll need a code name. Let me be the Eagle and you be the Sparrow. And your mother can be the Dove. We'll keep the message short; something like listing coordinates so we stay under the radar."_

" _Provided that he's not hiding out in Outworld," she decided. She turned to leave before throwing in, "Doubt the Blade'll want to be called a dove."_

Finishing up his story, Johnny pleads his case, "She probably did something to get his attention in some way. Probably got close to his location. Now she's paying for it in spades and it's entirely my fault. You can hate me later, you can even kill me, but you gotta help me find her first." Sonya gets up and walks over to his dresser to get a shirt from his drawer. "Where are you going?" he asks her when he sees her leave the room. He struggles to put on his sweatpants and follow her down the hall.

He locates her in Cassie's room as she tries to boot up their daughter's computer. "Dammit!" she screams as she bangs the keyboard with her fists. "What the hell did Jacqui do to get online?" she wonders to herself. Johnny sees Cassie's computer is locked with a security clearance. After a thought, Sonya types something again, and the computer screen shakes, denying access.

"Wait!" Johnny says before Sonya is about to put in another password guess. "She encrypted her computer access for a reason. There's something on there she didn't want a lot of people to know. If you guess the password wrong five times in a row, everything will be deleted," he tells her calmly.

"How can you be so calm at a time like this, John?!" she yells at him in frustration.

"One of us has to stay calm Sonya. Trust me. I got her into this mess somehow. Please, let me call Jacqui. We're both hopeless when it comes to stuff like this." He coaxes Sonya out of the seat and stares at Cassie's computer. "We'll figure this out, princess," he sighs.

* * *

 **A/N:** I did not enjoy writing what happened to Cassie in this chapter just so it's clear to everyone. Any questions that this chapter has raised will be answered in the next one, I promise. Reviews and thoughts are always welcome as per usual.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Mortal Kombat or its subsidiaries. The honor is bestowed upon Ed Boon for his creative genius and Netherrealm Studios for their production.

 **Author's Note:** Did anyone happen to guess who the mysterious man was? What about that cryptic message Cassie sent Jacqui and her mother? These will be answered in the chapter below. Enjoy!

* * *

At the Cage house, a bunch of Earthrealm's defenders gather around Jacqui as she sits on Cassie's computer. At this point, she has already guessed the password twice with failed results. She only has one more chance before she erases everything in her best friend's hard-drive, something everyone wants to avoid. She curses herself inwardly for triggering this protective response in the first place. While she was on Cassie's computer a second time, she accidentally clicked on a password protected file. Thinking nothing of it, she entered what she thought the password would be. As a result, Cassie's computer went into hypersensitivity mode, which is where she is now. Jacqui takes one more look at the message Cassie sent her through Friendships. "Fuck me," Jacqui swears, frustrated. Jax clears his throat behind her. "Sorry, Dad. But this is frustrating the shit out of me. What was so personal that she had to encrypt her _entire_ computer when clicking on _one_ file?"

"It was something she could not trust just anyone with, lest it be received by the wrong set of eyes," Hanzo guesses correctly.

Jacqui sighs, exasperated. "I'm trying my best here, Cass. But I need more help," she says to herself as if Cassie could hear her. On cue, Jacqui's phone vibrates. She unlocks it and reads the message she's sent. "Guys," she says, catching everyone's attention.

 **CassieCage:** 145939N1030614E

Jacqui stares at the message in shock while everyone else has yet to catch up. It takes Sonya a few more seconds before the idea comes to her head. "Remember how Cassie left clues for us when she was kidnapped by Erron Black during the whole Blood Code business?" Sonya asks everyone. It clicks to Johnny as well, but Jacqui, Jax, Takeda, Kenshi, and Hanzo are still perplexed.

"I've only got one more chance guys," Jacqui warns them.

"Try the code as it's written. No spaces, case sensitive," Johnny tells her. She sighs and carefully types the weird numbers as the password.

"Here goes nothing," she mutters as she presses 'Enter'. There are a few moments of silence. Then, everyone struggles to cover their ears as the music on Cassie's computer blasts through their eardrums. Turning down the sound, Jacqui stares at Cassie's screensaver, which is currently a picture of the team with Johnny in the back. Blinking, Jacqui almost doesn't believe it. Then, "Fuck yeah!" she shouts triumphantly, pointedly ignoring her father's death glare. She gets to work. "These files have weird labels, but I'm sure they're messages we need to decipher in Cassie-terms. I think I can figure out some of this stuff though."

"Wait!" Takeda exclaims, catching on to something else in the files. There's a picture of what looked to be an abandoned warehouse. But the surrounding area is what really gets his attention. "I... I think I know that place," he says.

"Wanna enlighten us o' wise one?" Johnny asks him. Sonya glares at him. "I'm genuinely asking," he defends himself.

Takeda squint at the picture. Then, he has an epiphany. "Those are coordinates!" he says. Everyone stares at him like he has two heads. "14 degrees, 59 minutes, 39 seconds north; 103 degrees, 6 minutes, 14 seconds east."

Knowing her geography, Jacqui states, "That sounds like it could be Asian coordinates. That is, _if_ it's anywhere on Earth."

"Indochinese to be exact," Takeda starts to explain to the group. "I grew up in Lampang, Thailand in a small village outside the woods before I was brought to Master Hasashi. The next town over, Buriram, was a place where a lot of shady things happened. It was made as a town to seem harmless, but one shortcut home as a young boy proved otherwise. It's a scary place, with a lot of abandoned warehouses factories. Many of the places that _do_ seem harmless were just illusions for running illegal fight and drug rings, along with who-knows-what."

"D'ya think Kano moved the Black Dragon out there to cover up their tracks?" Jax asks the group.

"It's certainly feasible. The Red Dragon _is_ based in Indochina. Maybe someone from the faction got close to the Black Dragon," Kenshi explained.

Johnny glares at the computer screen. "Maybe," he growls, "there was an infiltration of some sort, and one of the factions retaliated on the other."

"That still doesn't explain how Cassandra plays a part in this," Hanzo says, knitting his eyebrows in confusion.

It all makes sense to Sonya though. In total disbelief, she laughs despite her anger. "Damn, she _is_ a smart kid..." she mutters, clenching her jaw. Taking a few deep breaths, she continues, "Cassie must've discovered the new location with the plan to bring the whole operation down. Somehow, she fell under Kano's radar and..." Everyone understands the unfinished thought.

"Not in Outworld!" Jacqui blurts abruptly. Everyone raises an eyebrow at her. "NIOW, that's what she wrote to me. Not in Outworld."

"Un-fucking-real," Johnny says, "she's been trying to tell us he's not in Outworld."

"And she encrypted her files with the coordinates of exactly where he is," Jacqui says as she slams a palm to her forehead.

While the group starts chattering excitedly, Hanzo receives a message on his phone. Disturbed, he clears his throat to try to get everyone's attention unsuccessfully. He whistles sharply, causing everyone to turn to him. "If we are to act, now is the time. We don't know what his endgame is; therefore, we cannot afford to have Cassandra in the crossfire."

"I agree. Let's get a team out to Thailand now," Sonya tells everyone. Everyone begins to move and she stops Jacqui with a gentle hand on her shoulder. Takeda sees this and asks Jacqui a silent question. She gives him a nod and he leaves. Now alone in Cassie's room, Sonya asks her, "You ready for a promotion?"

Jacqui's eyes widen in shock. "Uh... s-sure!" she answers, "I'd like that a lot, General!"

Sonya nods. "Then help me bring my little girl home," she says with tears in her eyes. Sonya didn't speak to Jacqui as her commanding officer General Blade. She spoke to her as Sonya, the mother, the wife, and the protector of Earthrealm.

Jacqui pats Sonya's hand tenderly. "We will, Aunt Sonya," she tells her as they leave the room.

* * *

All through the night, the mysterious man checks on Cassie without getting caught by his "boss". Truth is he was sent by another, Grandmaster of the Shirai Ryu, to do his own research. When he was made aware of Cassie's kidnapping, he tried everything in his power to make sure no ill will or harm crossed the petite blonde. He obviously failed the mission, having been an unwilling witness to her degradation. It's too bad Kano entrusted him with so much; it would serve to bite him in the ass later.

The next afternoon, Cassie wakes up to a bowl of chicken corn chowder. Mystery man paces back and forth as if expecting someone. He'd almost gotten caught by one of Kano's associates once and had to think fast. "You have to eat, Cassandra," the man encourages her; "you'll need your strength."

Cassie levels a look with the man. "Why are you risking your ass to save mines?" she croaks. The question has been on her mind for a while.

He hands her a bottle of water, which she takes greedy gulps of. He watches her. "Because, the enemy of Black Dragon is planning an attack. You need to be ready when they do," he explains to her. He finally decides to walk over to her, cloth in hand. He takes some water and pours it on the wash cloth. He then proceeds to wipe the blood from her nose and chin delicately, doing his best to keep calm so she remains calm as well.

Initially, she flinches. She only manages to settle down when he wipes a spot on her cheek with the utmost care. When he's finished, he retrieves a clean piece of tissue from his pocket and hands it to her. She takes it as fat tears rolls down her cheeks. "How can I repay you?" she asks the kind stranger.

There is a commotion outside of the room where Cassie is being held. He takes that as his cue to make his leave. He tells her two simple words, "Be safe," before leaving her to her thoughts.

It's only after a few moments of determining whether she's safe from any other visitors she finally moves over to the bowl left for her. Carefully, deliberately, she takes a few sips. After choking down a few bites, she takes out the phone she's been given and decides to send another secret message to her family. She'd already done most of her part of the deal she made with her father. Now she's leaving it up to him or her mother (or both) to finish the deed. Satisfied she's still breathing and not dying from being poisoned, Cassie continues to eat slowly. Mystery man was right; she'd need strength, especially if the Red or Black Dragon sticks to their plans.

* * *

The leader in charge of the third team Sonya sent to Outworld brings back some interesting information. "So," the Lieutenant begins, wrapping up his story," he came back to Earthrealm after being banned from Outworld by the emperor. He has already planned a counterattack against Kotal Kahn, which failed. That's why he's rebuilding his arsenal here."

Sonya nods once as she continues building her own weaponry paraphernalia. Her mind has been made up since leaving Johnny's house and returning to base. She's going to find Kano and kill him once and for all, no gimmicks and no hesitation. And for the first time since being sworn to protect her country and realm, she'd be okay if this is decision causes either her resignation or dismissal. Her whole life was in the military to protect others; what good would it do if she wasn't able to enjoy time with the very same people she was sworn to protect? No, this has to be done. Forget crossing a line, Kano ran through that line several times over when he touched her daughter. "General?" someone calls out to her. She looks over her shoulder to see Jax, dressed in a white t-shirt and an army print bulletproof vest. "We're ready when you are," he informs her. She nods and checks her wrist gauntlets. Sighing deeply, she turns around and walks out the door, ready for the final showdown.

* * *

Cassie's in the middle of a nap when the door to her dungeon slams open. Jumping slightly, she rolls over, stuffing the phone she'd been using in her pocket. She's able to tell it's not her helper, but rather a different man who was not as kind. "Get up," the man tells her roughly as he grabs her arm harshly and stands her up. He walks her outside of the door and through a narrow corridor filled with pipe connections. After a quick glance at her surroundings, Cassie grabs the man's arm and swings him around, making him hit his head on one of the pipes. For good measure, she kicks him in the face with so much pressure she hears his spine crack. It attracts the attention of another man so she makes herself slink between spaces in the wall. When the man is too preoccupied with checking for a pulse, Cassie strikes him with a furious fist. He goes down with his comrade and she continues her trek down the hallway.

She makes a left turn and is almost caught by yet another henchman. She manages to dodge being seen before she tackles him from behind and takes him down with a punch to the face. Not leaving any room for revival, she grabs his knife from his holster and slits his throat. After pocketing the knife, Cassie resumes walking, watching out for any threats.

She finally lands herself in another room filled with boxes after a few minutes of aimless wandering. "Fuck!" she whispers to herself. Dead end. Or was it? She creeps closer to the boxes and inspects them. Just as she thought; there are enough explosives to destroy everything at least half a mile away. "I knew it," she grumbles to herself. She takes a picture of one of the boxes labeled with the Black Dragon emblem. Even if she doesn't take out the entire faction, at least she has further proof as to why she decided to pursue them. Just in case she was asked.

"Hey!" she hears him shout behind her. She turns around slowly to face Kano once again. He walks closer to her menacingly as she tries to dodge him. _If you wanna catch me, you're gonna have to kill me,_ Cassie decides in her head. They circled each other like vultures, both with fire in their eyes. "How'd you get out, Princess?" he inquires, dangerously tender.

She narrows her eyes at him. "Don't you worry your ugly little head," she growls at him.

"You think yer so smart, eh? Tracking me down here, following my men about," he taunts as they continue their circle dance. "Such a shame though," he says, wielding his butterfly knife, "I have to kill ya!" He lunges at her, arms raised in the air. She waits until he's closer before performing a round sweeping kick, knocking him flat on his back as the knife flies out of his hand. "Ya little bitch!" he yells as he kicks himself back up. He goes in for a wide swing, but she counters by jabbing her knife at him. He sees this in his peripheral vision and dodges it.

When she goes to stab him again from the side he slaps her hand down with so much force she drops the knife. He grabs her hand and drags her to him so she's flush with his body. With an arm around her neck, he leans in close, breathing into her ear. "I guess you haven't learned from the first time, huh?" he whispers, licking the outside of her ear. She struggles to get one arm free but he holds on tighter. "Well, it's you're lucky day. I'm in a teaching mood," he professes.

Before he can do anything else, a familiar female voice notes in a strangely calm voice, "You move, you die."

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm kinda not sorry for this cliffhanger, especially considering that this was typed up on my phone in its entirety while working backstage on a production. I'm thinking about wrapping this up in about two or three more chapters. Don't worry; you all will get what you want. It's all planned out in my noggin. With the way I want this to end, I might play around with the idea of a sequel, only if people want it. Let me know your thoughts as usual.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own anything Mortal Kombat related that is recognizable in this fanfic. Only the plot is mine.

 **Author's Note:** Uh oh, shit's going down in this chapter. But before they do, I need to back track and explain how the Black Dragon was infiltrated and who's there (which I'm sure you all know who it is, but still). I had a hard time starting the chapter, so I just want to thank **NeedsANewPenName** for her assistance. I also fixed some minor errors in the previous chapter, just so you know. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

 _It's all or nothing,_ Sonya thinks to herself as she observes the print-out of the blueprint she's been given. Her mood is tense and angry though she's trying to calm her nerves; she cannot afford to make any more mistakes, especially at the expense of her daughter. "Okay, here's the plan," she starts to explain to her group which consists of Johnny, Hanzo, Kenshi, Takeda, Jacqui, and Jax, "Kenshi and Takeda will take the northern corridor on the top floor and work their way down. Jacqui and Jax will take the south corridor. Hanzo, you'll meet up with your charge on the east side. Johnny and I will take the west side. Stealth is of the essence here. Quicker we get in, quicker we can get Cass out."

 _Oh the irony of working with Sonya again_ , Johnny contemplates to himself. Any other time would've been a joyous occasion for him, but now isn't the time. If what Cassie told him through message was true... he shakes his head. He can't think that way right now. "What do we do if we find her? If we're caught—" Johnny questions Sonya.

" _When_ we find her, we're leaving," she tells him matter-of-factly. He breathes a sigh of relief. She probably forgot about her revenge on Kano.

"What happens if one of us finds Kano, ma'am? Do we just leave him alone?" Takeda asks Sonya. Johnny covers his face in defeat. Her eyes twitch in anger. "Ma'am?" he prods as Jacqui slaps his shoulder.

Sonya growls primitively. "Better hope I don't find him first," she states angrily.

"Sonya," Jax begins.

"No!" she shouts, already anticipating what her friend was going to say. She turns to him with enraged tears shining in her eyes. "He hasn't taunted you the way he's been taunting me over the past two decades. And then he drags my only daughter into this? If he tortured Jacqui the same way he's done to Cassie, you'd feel the exact same way. Hell, _I'd_ still feel this way. He needs to die." Jax is about to say something else but Johnny shakes his head ever so slightly. Everyone else understands the situation at hand. Satisfied, Sonya checks the clip in both her desert eagle and her silencer. "Let's move," she says. They all split up to cover their designated posts.

* * *

As Sonya and Johnny are tip-toeing down the hall, Sonya sees two men knocked out cold on the floor. He walks slightly ahead of her and checks for a pulse on both men. Finding none, he signals to Sonya and they continue down the hall. They make a left and see another henchman with his throat slit. Upon closer inspection, Sonya realizes the type of cut made to his jugular and carotid vein; it's jagged, indicating an impulsive last minute decision. "Oh, Cass," Johnny sighs forlornly.

"Survival instincts," Sonya informs him. "Let's split up," she whispers to him.

"No! You know what happens when—" Johnny argues before he's interrupted by the sound of a shutter going off in one direction and footsteps in another. "Fuck. Meet me on the other side," he decides. She goes left and he goes right, leading them to the same room. From Johnny's and Sonya's angles, he sees Cassie taking pictures of boxes and she sees Kano stomping over to Cassie angrily. They make themselves scarce.

"Hey! How'd you get out, princess?" Kano asks her as they begin to circle each other menacingly. Johnny's heart begins to pound anxiously. Sonya tries to clear her rapidly reddening vision.

Johnny carefully scoots closer to Cassie's side as she growls, "Don't worry your ugly little head."

Sonya catches Johnny's eyes and gives him a signal only they both know to give each other. Even though she's finding it increasingly hard to do, Sonya tries not to attack Kano yet as he keeps circling out of her line of fire. She takes a deep, quiet breath in an attempt to calm her heart down and addresses the group through the wrist comm. As Kano lunges for Cassie, Cassie waits until he gets closer to her to sweep him off his feet. The knife Kano is holding flies out of his hand and stops short in front of Johnny. While Kano is preoccupied with calling Cassie a bitch and swinging at her again, Johnny carefully picks up the knife and discards it somewhere behind him.

After a small struggle, Kano grabs Cassie's hand, drags her towards him, and wraps an arm around her neck. Johnny ducks, but not before Cassie notices him in a flash. Sonya swallows a bubble of rage when she sees Kano lean in close to Cassie. She almost doesn't believe her ears when she hears him say, "I guess you haven't learned from the first time, huh?" He then licks the shell of Cassie's ear and she digs her fingernails into his forearm, trying to get away. "Well, it's your lucky day. I'm in a teaching mood."

 _So am I,_ Sonya thinks as she pops out from her hiding space and walks closer to Kano. As he's poised to cut her with another knife which looks unfamiliar to both adults, Sonya says in a measured voice, "You move, you die."

Kano turns to see Sonya staring him down, her desert eagle pointed at him. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Mama Blade. Come to join the party, love?" he taunts her.

She swallows thickly. "I'm not into parties," she tells him, surprised her voice is still as calm as it is. "Let her go, Kano."

He sniffs Cassie's neck again and she whimpers. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, your beloved here has done many great services for me, haven't you princess? We've even sent ya post cards."

It's Johnny's turn to narrow his eyes from his hiding spot. Without thinking, he fires a low shot, somehow managing to nail Kano in the ankle. "Fuck," he mutters as Kano buckles under the weight. Cassie takes the opportunity to elbow him in the stomach. While doubled over from that, her fist slings back, catching him in the nose. She then flips him over her shoulder as Johnny moves from his hiding spot. Before Sonya can blink, Kano grabs Cassie's leg and drags her to him. He then stabs her in the thigh, nearly hitting her femoral artery and she wails in pain as she begins to bleed. With her other leg, she kicks him in the face. Johnny runs over to her. By the time Johnny gets close to Cassie, Kano stabs Johnny in the abdomen with the same knife. Sonya fires a shot into Kano's calf and all three are now curled up on the floor. Cassie is trying to crawl away, bringing her dad with her.

When she gets closer to them, Kano pulls a small pistol from his back pocket and aims it at Sonya. The bullet grazes the shoulder of her dominant arm but still manages to knock her down from shock. Her ears are ringing from both the impact of her fall and the bullet sailing past her ear. Undeterred and in full mama bear mode, she gets back up and walks over to them. He tries to fire another shot at her, but she reaches him in time to kick the gun out of his hand. She kicks him in the face. She goes for a hit to the abdomen, but he seizes her leg and trips her. She falls on her back and does a backward roll to stand up.

Despite his physical pain, Kano stands up and faces Sonya. "I'm delighted you've decided to join me, Sonya. You thought I forgot about what happened at the Refugee Camp, didn't ya?"

"I should've killed you then!" she screams as she lunges for him. Predicting the oncoming attack, he stops her with a sharp jab to the face, followed by twisting her arm and punching her in the gut. She untwists herself from his arms and delivers a well-placed knee to the nose, hearing a crack. He yelps as she fires a blast of pink energy from her gauntlet. He falls and she further incapacitates him with a gunshot to the same leg Johnny shot at previously. Hearing both Cassie and Johnny groaning from their injuries temporarily distracts her. She runs over to Johnny and observes his abdomen, which is now bleeding thick blood. "Venom," she wonders in disbelief. She quickly notices Cassie whose leg is cut and also bleeding coagulated blood. The handle of a knife hitting her sharply in the back knocks her down next to her daughter. She recovers easily and is staring at Kano incredulously. He's somehow standing again, putting most of his body weight on his uninjured leg.

Kano laughs evilly. "I'm _really_ enjoying this little family shindig. Aren't you?" he heckles her. He then launches another knife at her, which she dodges. She commences another series of attacks which he parries and blocks with his hands. Taking advantage of her current rage, his fist swings widely and connects to her jaw in a powerful right hook that jars her whole body. She shakes her head to clear the exploding stars from her vision. She launches another attack: an uppercut, which is followed by a left hook, a double punch to the right of his jaw, and a snap kick that rocks his head into his back. He falls back like a piece of flattened cardboard and hits the floor hard. When she walks over to him to stomp on his face, his arms sticks out and trips her once again.

Sonya inadvertently lands on top of him. Before she can roll off, he knees her in the stomach and backhands her with such force that she's forced to roll off with the force of the hit. "Son of a bitch!" she cries as she cradles her jaw. She gets up to her feet again and does a second attempt at a face stomp, which connects this time. His nose is shattered now. She begins to strangle him, squeezing his windpipe between her fingers. He paws at her hands and sputters, but she won't let up. Not wanting to suffer the same fate twice, he pushes her away with his foot. She rolls around on the ground several times before coming to a stop. He manages to grab a hold of his mini pistol again and shoots at her wrist, rendering her left gauntlet useless. Another shot hits her left forearm and she screams almost inhumanely. From her back pocket, she grabs her silencer and fires off three shots in his direction, unsure if any of them connected. Hearing the sound of metal hitting the floor is her only indication he dropped his weapon.

After a brief moment, Sonya gets up and walks over to him. "You are the biggest piece of shit that has ever crossed the face of the earth!" she shouts as she first steps on his fingers and then begins kicking him repeatedly. Each kick she delivers brings back another memory of their bitter history together. A kick to the face reminds her of when he sweet talked his way into being her confidential informant. Crunching on his fingers again reminds her of when he tied her up to a pole and almost beat her within an inch of her life. Another one reminds her of how he shot her former partner execution style as he forced her to watch him die. Stepping on the wound Johnny created on his ankle reminds her of the Mortal Kombat tournament when he tried to hit her while she was down. Stomping on his knee until his patella shattered reminded her of the fact that it was _his_ fault Shinnok was released from his amulet. Finally, she kicks him between his legs for the explicit pictures he sent her of Cassie's abuse at his hands. "Fool me once, shame on me," she says as she kicks him in the jaw again. "Fool me twice, and I was stopped from killing you with my bare hands," she says again as she digs the balls of her feet into his crotch again, almost relishing in the way he howled.

"For fucks sake, woman!" he cries out, but she wasn't having it.

"But you messed with the wrong bitch when you _raped my daughter_!" Sonya stomps on his stomach again, forcing him to cough up blood.

"M-mercy!" he manages to choke out.

Sonya laughed evilly at his pathetic request. "You want me to show you mercy? The same mercy you showed Cassie?" she asks in a saccharine voice. He continues to cough up blood but nods at her. "What did I tell you before, Kano?" she questions him as she readies her silencer. "I don't," she grinds out with a shot to his manhood, effectively castrating him. "Negotiate," she continues as she shoots him on the shoulder, giving him a matching injury to hers. "WITH SCUMBAGS!" she yells as she shoots him in the non-cybernetic eye. The last thing he sees before his life drains away is the manic look of sadistic joy Sonya has on her face.

Not noticing the rest of the team is now working on evacuating Johnny and Cassie, she empties the rest of her clip on his body in blinding fury. When it's empty, she kneels down and grabs his head, smashing it into the floor repeatedly. Brain matter is splashing onto her face, but Sonya doesn't care; her anger can't be quelled with mere words. She vaguely hears Jacqui crying for her to stop and footsteps, but she's unrelenting. Almost 30 years of animosity and bad blood has her bashing his head repeatedly until she is forcefully removed from his body and tossed into boxes; the same boxes of explosives that Cassie noticed earlier. It's only when she hears a clicking sound that she comes back down to earth.

"What was that sound?" Hanzo wonders. Kenshi and Takeda sense it and stare in shock.

"This place is set up with explosives," Kenshi explains as Takeda continues his telepathic search.

"Uh… guys? We only have about five minutes before this place explodes," Takeda informs everyone.

"Everyone, fall back!" Hanzo shouts. He grabs Sonya and throws her over his shoulder like a lightweight and the group maneuvers their way out of the building.

Still in a state of shock, Sonya is quiet throughout. They all get out just in time to avoid being caught in the massive explosion, which blows shrapnel and smoke their way. When they all reach outside, Sonya jumps into action. "Where's Johnny and Cassie?!" she inquires when she does not see them outside with her. "Where are they?!" she screams into the air. Hanzo struggles to calm her down long enough to tell her that the two were en route to a hospital via air.

"General," Hanzo tries to tell her as he's holding her wrists hostage, " _general_! Calm down! Johnny and Cassandra are on their way to the hospital."

After a few minutes of struggling, she finally begins taking in deep breaths. "They've been… they were… they…" she struggles to say as she begins having a panic attack. Hanzo manages to get Sonya's head between her legs to try to regulate her breathing. "They… were… venomed," she struggles to say. He rubs her back soothingly as she collapses in the fetal position on the floor in hysterical tears, finally breaking after years of hiding her pain.

* * *

 **A/N:** So Cassie's saved, Kano's dead, and Sonya has a breakdown. Problem(s) solved, right? Wrong! The backlash this way cometh. You'll just have to wait and see what will happen next chapter, won't you? As for Kano, it may not be the fatality kill scene you all wanted, but I still hope I did justice. I just had to do it my own way. Questions and concerns in the form of reviews are appreciated as per usual.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't make profit, and I don't intend on making profit, therefore I don't own Mortal Kombat in any way. I don't even have stock shares…

 **Author's Note:** After the craziness of last chapter, things are starting to wind down. But not without consequences for just about everyone involved. Don't kill me! It had to happen. Just read it; I know you're curious.

* * *

Cassie is stuck to her hospital bed while Johnny is taken by Fujin to the Jinsei to recover from his injuries. Sonya takes a few personal days off to stay in the hospital by Johnny's side initially and then by Cassie's after, only leaving to use the bathroom or make a quick phone call. Her own injuries were treated by the medical personnel back at the base, but she's reluctant to leave until she's sure her daughter would wake up. During her time, she constantly wonders why Fujin only recovered Johnny, but she figures it's a conversation for another day.

Many of the brief phone calls Sonya received were from Colonel Flagg. She already knows she's meant to deal with the backlash of her actions; before she went on the mission, she was told to make sure she captured at least one Black Dragon member as a fugitive. Knowing for the first time in her career she disobeyed orders (even from her technical subordinates), her meeting was not going to be good. But the most she risked was a humiliating demotion, and she accepted her fate.

A few days later, Cassie opens her eyes and sees white light blinding her vision. She groans, which catches the attention of the person near her. She hears the faint sound of mechanical beeping indicating her feeble but steady heartbeat. She struggles to sit up but the person holding her hand softly pushes her back down. "You need your rest, Cassandra," the male voice tells her soothingly.

Though she doesn't recognize the voice as him, she still calls out, "Dad?"

"Your father is also resting," he tells her.

"Mom?" she asks with a scratchy throat.

"She stepped out for a second. I will fetch her for you," he tells her. Before he can leave, she squeezes his hand softly. Interpreting it as a sign for him to stay, he sits back down and gently caresses her hand. "Would you like some water?" he asks her. She nods. He has a cup of water ready for her and he helps her take small sips from the paper cup. "You are a brave young lady."

Despite her pain, she chuckles. "You're quite the savior," she replies as she sees Sonya walking back to her room. "Hey, Mom," she says casually. He takes this as his cue to leave.

Sonya's eyes go wide and she runs over to Cassie's bedside. "Oh, my God, you're awake!" Draping her body over her daughter, she cries, "Thank goodness you're awake! I thought I was gonna lose you. Shit, you scared me!"

Struggling to sit up, Cassie strokes her mother's hair. "I'm okay, Mom. I've—" she's about to say she's been through worse, but she knows it isn't true. Plus, she's never seen her mother cry this way before. She sighs. "I'll be okay," she says instead.

Sonya lets out a choppy breath. "Cass, I'm so sorry for putting you in this position. Nothing I can say or do will ever make up for this, but… I really am sorry."

Heartbroken, Cassie explains to her mom, "It's not your fault, Mom, I promise. This was all me. I just… I just wanted to do something for _you_ for a change. It just happened to backfire in my face _hard_." They share an embrace as silent tears falls from Cassie's face. After a few moments, Sonya lets go and caresses Cassie's cheek tenderly. She misses the interaction and leans into her mother's surprisingly soft touch. "I hope I didn't get you into too much trouble, General," Cassie tells her sincerely.

Sonya shakes her head. "That doesn't matter to me right now. What matters is you're alive."

"And grounded," Cassie laments.

Sonya suppresses the urge to cry. "One, you're a little too old for me to ground you. Two, you wouldn't be anyway. And three, I'm sorry if I've ever made you feel like you haven't done your best. I just wanted you to _be_ the best. I projected my own goals and insecurities onto you and that wasn't fair. I gave up your childhood just to try to keep you safe. That was the best thing I _could_ do as your mom," she confesses. Her phone lets out a few pings. She checks her messages and scowls. "Did they tell you when you'll be released?" she asks Cassie.

Cassie shrugs in response. "Dunno," she answers, also glowering at Sonya's phone. "Messages from the base?" she asks coldly. Sonya blinks at her daughter until she realizes she's referring to her phone. "It's okay, Mom. I'll be fine," she assures her sadly.

"I—"

"I promise. Go ahead. Yuri will just stay with me," Cassie tells her. Sonya gulps and looks at her phone again. "Just one little request."

Sonya perks up and says, "Anything!"

Cassie gives her a little smile. "Take a break, General. You deserve it." Sonya nods. She gets up, kisses Cassie on the forehead, and takes her reluctant leave.

* * *

When she enters her office, Sonya is shocked to see Colonel Flagg and Secretary Blake along with the General of the United States waiting for her. Their expressions are grim. Slowly, Sonya closes the door to her office and stands in the middle of the floor awkwardly. After a few tense moments of silence, she breaks it. "Secretary Blake. Colonel," she addresses them with a terse nod.

Blake nods back at her. "I assume you know what this meeting is about, right General?" he asks her, cutting straight to the point. She closes her eyes as she feels her heart rate steadily climbing. "First thing's first: how is Sergeant Cage?"

She huffs quietly. "She's stable. She's expected to be released from the hospital in a few days," she answers as politely as she can.

"And Mr. Cage?" he asks.

"Same report."

"And yourself?"

Sonya blinks in confusion. What was he playing at? "I'm fine," she says, gritting her teeth.

"Sad, really," Colonel Flagg begins, "I can't say the same to the families of the teams you've sent on a wild goose chase."

A tidal wave of guilt washes over Sonya, but she struggles to cover it up with an indifferent expression. "I'm aware no offer of consolation will ever suffice for their families. I did what I thought I had to do."

"Protecting this country is what you were supposed to do, General Blade. Not carrying out a personal vendetta that gets scores of soldiers killed on the job!" Blake reprimands her harshly. She flinches at the tone he takes with her. "What you did was reckless and reprehensible."

"I'm aware," she says softly, struggling to keep her calm façade. "I did what I had to do to save a soldier in the line of duty."

"At the expense of the lives of others? By putting said soldier _in_ that line of fire?" Colonel Flagg questions her. She almost defends herself by saying it was Johnny's idea, but 1) she doubts he would appreciate her throwing him under the bus, and 2) it would have been her responsibility anyway. "Was it your brilliant idea to send Sergeant Cage on the suicide mission?"

Without hesitation, Sonya replies, "Yes, it was."

"Explain," Blake demands.

Sighing, she tries to recall everything Johnny told her about his side job for Cassie. "Fearing retaliation," she begins to explain, "I asked Cass— Sergeant Cage and Mr. Cage to keep an eye out for any activity from the Black Dragon. Sergeant Cage was able to pinpoint their new location and placed a tracking alert on any activity. She found out their rivals in the Red Dragon were planning their own retaliation by planting explosives in their new headquarters. The leader of the Black Dragon—"

"The deceased Kano," Blake interrupts with.

Sonya fights the impulse to growl. "He was planning on selling new weapons such as knives and ammunition to any worldly terrorists, which were infused with venom." The memory of Kano stabbing Johnny and Cassie streaks through her mind and she closes her eyes briefly.

Colonel Flagg shifts uncomfortably in _her_ chair. "If this was the case, General, why not bring them all into federal custody?"

 _Because that bastard raped my daughter,_ she thinks angrily. "With all due respect, Kano was a fugitive known for evading such custodial actions," she opts to say instead.

"So you kill him and his followers instead?" Secretary Blake asks her. She swallows uncomfortably. "Listen, General Blade," he opens up with, "with all due respect, you have been one of the most impressive officers we have come to see in these past years. You were known for making decisions with a clear head and with a conscious plan to go along with it. The fact that you've dived into this personal mission head first without contemplating any repercussions is daunting and disappointing."

Disappointing. That's the only word reverberating through her head. As if she hadn't done enough disappointing in her life already; letting her family down was one thing, but it was another when she let herself and her country down by compromising her duties for some shit faced faction leader, just because he gave her the run around decades before. Tired of holding them in, tears begin to fall from Sonya's eyes. She'd given up so much in her life: her marriage to Johnny, Cassie's childhood, most of her friendships, her sanity. And now, she'd given up hope, and with her hope, her strength and integrity crumbled alongside.

Swiping away at her tears angrily, she stared down the five-star General of the United States Army. "As a result of your actions, General Blade, we can offer you two options," the older man informs her. "You can gracefully resign from your duties and we'll give you a general discharge. Or, we can drag you through the general court martial and strip you of your stars publicly. Seeing as how your services to this country, notwithstanding this incident, have been impeccable, we highly suggest you choose the former option."

This new information jars Sonya's entire core. She was expecting a demotion of some sort, but to be forced to either resign or be dishonorably discharged? That came as a complete shock to her. There is a beat of silence. Then, "We will give you 24 hours to come up with your decision, General," Secretary Blake assures her.

No, she doesn't want the day to pass with this hanging over her head. "I'll gracefully resign. Under one condition."

Colonel Flagg raises an eyebrow at her. "Which is?" he inquires.

She wipes her tears away again. "There are a few things I need to take care of as General. Please indulge me before I officially hand in my letter of resignation," she tells them quietly. The three men confer with each other briefly before they nod. "I won't need much time. About three hours tops," she tells them.

"Then it's settled. We will allow you to take care of your last affairs before you officially resign," Blake tells her. She nods, understanding her new predicament.

* * *

Two hours later, after calling Jacqui to her office to bestow the honor of promoting her to Corporal, Sonya packs the few belongings she has with her into her duffle bag. One of the last things to go in her bag is a framed picture of her, Cassie, and Johnny on a family fishing outing. Cassie is grinning broadly at the camera, her hair in two long French braids; Sonya smiles warmly, and Johnny hams it up by wrapping one arm around Sonya and using his other hand to put bunny ears over Cassie's head. She remembers the day clearly: she wanted to take them fishing like her dad used to take her and her brother, a trip she always enjoyed. Saddened Johnny and Cassie didn't share the same sentiments as her, she requested to have them take the picture anyway because she wanted to always remember another fishing trip. Coming out of her reverie, she smiles fondly at the picture before placing it carefully on top of her other belongings.

Searching through her drawers, she finds random mementos: a note from Johnny requesting her to take off for lunch, a stick figure drawing Cassie drew of her as Lieutenant Colonel for Mother's Day (at age 7), and an old set of keys to Johnny's house. Those keys were useless to her because Johnny changed the locks after a break in at his home a couple of months after their divorce. On the very bottom of the right hand drawer, she finds something that makes her heart drop: her other set of dog chains, ones she received upon making it to Brigadier General. Both her platinum emerald cut diamond engagement ring and her diamond encrusted wedding band were on the chain as well. Holding the chains up gingerly, Sonya chokes back a sob as she recalls her proposal.

"… _Unless… maybe you've fallen in love with me," Johnny continued to prattle on before Sonya became annoyed with him._

 _Pressing two fingers to his lips, she said, "For once, shut up." She waited a beat to ensure Johnny wouldn't interrupt her. Removing her fingers from his lips, she blurted, "I'm pregnant."_

 _He stared at her in shock. "What?" he asked her. And for once in his life, he was rendered speechless._

 _She sighed. "I don't expect you to help me or anything. I mean, you have your life and your career, and I have mines. Ugh, this is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever—"_

" _Hold on," he began, "do you honestly believe I'd leave you alone to take care of this kid? I may be a lot of things, Sonya, but deadbeat dad ain't one of them. Even if you_ _ **think**_ _you don't want my help, you're still getting it."_

" _But I have responsibilities, John," she told him with a sigh._

" _Yeah? Well now, so do I. And you can add 'mother' and 'wife' to your list, too. You're not doing this alone. Like it or not, we're stuck together now," he said to her sincerely._

 _She looked into his blue eyes. "You'd really help me?" she asked him. He nodded. "I'm warning you, I'm not giving up my career."_

" _We'll find a way to make it work, Sonya," he told her before apprehensively scooting closer to her. "So… d'ya want a big wedding or a small wedding?"_

" _Ugh," she said, burying her head in her hands._

Being a good sport, Johnny had let her take charge of everything. Sonya chose her engagement ring and planned the small court house occasion by herself. She sighs forlornly and puts the chains on as a sign of good faith. Zipping up her duffle bag, Sonya takes one last look around her office before leaving for the last time.

When she gets outside the base, she sits on the curb with a hand through her hair. It's still early in the afternoon and she has nothing else better to do. Thinking about it, she also doesn't have a place to stay; she had to forfeit her place at the base as a result of her resignation. The one place she _can_ go that seems the most logical is the very same place she's been afraid of coming back to on a permanent basis. However, she knows she can't be turned down, so she moves from the curbside and calls a cab. When the cab arrives twenty minutes later, she tells the driver the address of her destination.

Driving through the streets, she contemplates changing her mind several times. Arriving at her destination, she braces herself for more possible rejection and pays the driver. Stepping out of the cab, she slowly walks up the cobblestone path and up to the solid oak door. Setting down her duffle bag, her knuckles hover over the door. Blinking back tears, she opts to ring the doorbell twice. She then knocks on the door exactly five times, hoping he'd recognize it as her distinction. A few minutes go by and Sonya decides to try again, knocking five times and ringing the door twice. For what she feels is the umpteenth time that day, she wipes away the steady stream of tears that rapidly descends her cheeks. "I don't want any Jehovah's— Sonya?" he asks as he throws the door open.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'll leave it at that for now. There's one chapter left, which should prove to be an interesting read. This chapter made me kinda sad to write, so I hope you all understand the emotion behind it. Leave your comments and concerns as per usual. I always like reading them. Thanks guys!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own anything Mortal Kombat related; only the plot and the character of Yuri are mines. By the way, let it be known that I'm not responsible for the genius behind the Friendship accounts or their names. Thanks!

 **Author's Note:** Aww, I had a lot of fun writing this fic, but here's the epilogue. Hope you all like it. I'm also grateful for the support and appreciation my little plot bunny spawned on me randomly. And who knows, I may write the sequel in due time. Without further ado, here you go.

* * *

Having barely made it out of the shower, Johnny has a hard time getting a shirt over his head due to his now healing injury. Deciding to forgo the article of clothing for the time being, he begins to towel dry his hair until he hears the doorbell ring twice, followed by a few knocks on the door. Not expecting company, Johnny groans and begins a brief search for pants. When he locates a pair of shorts, he proceeds to put them on. With one leg through, he hears the knocks again, followed by two doorbell rings. "For fuck's sake, keep your undies in a bunch!" he yells towards the door as he begrudgingly shoves his other leg through and grabs his favorite light blue terrycloth robe. Stomping down the stairs, he spews off angrily at the mouth. "Can't an old man get some fucking peace in his house?" He's almost at the door, ready to curse the intruder disturbing his serenity and continues, "How many times do I have to say it? No solicitors, no reporters, and I don't want any Jehovah's—" He flings the door open to see his ex-wife standing there, her knuckles poised at the door as if to knock again. "Sonya?" he asks her.

Sonya gives him a watery smile in response until she notices his attire. "Is this _really_ how you answer the door, John?" she asks him with a scowl on her face. A wave of déjà vu hits him almost painfully.

"I wasn't expecting company, that's all." Johnny surveys her appearance: her face is blotchy and red from crying, and her hair disheveled and coming undone from its usual braid. What makes him do a double take is despite the army print jacket she's sporting, she's currently dressed in civilian's clothing consisting of a plain pale pink shirt and dark rinse skinny jeans. Looking further down, he finally notices her duffle bag. Gazing back up at her, he greets her with, "Hey."

She shrugs. "Hey. I'm sorry to barge in like this—"

"No, no, it's fine," he reassures her as he escorts her inside, bringing her bag across the threshold. Closing the door, he gives her another look.

"I'm sorry Johnny," she apologizes shakily, her lips quavering at the effort not to sob helplessly into his arms, even though she desperately wants to. She swallows thickly. "I'm sorry about everything," she tells him heavily.

He cocks his head to the side curiously. "Something on your mind?" She nods. Without prodding her, he gently places a hand on her back and guides her to a seat at his island counter-top. "What can I get you to drink?"

Sonya snorts. "Can you give me coffee? Heavy on the Irish?" she requests.

"Wow," he responds to himself before he settles with handing her some whiskey on the rocks. She takes a sip and sighs. "So again, what's on your mind?"

Taking another sip, she says, "I resigned from S-F."

That takes Johnny by complete surprise. His jaw practically comes unhinged. Giving him a little smile, she offers her glass to him, from which he takes a small sip. "You resigned?" he asks her in disbelief. She nods. "Now _there's_ a story waiting to be told." And she obliges, telling him everything that went on in the past few hours, doing her best not to leave any details out. When she's done, he sits in silence, absolutely gob smacked. "So, because you killed that scumbag, you either had to resign or be dishonorably discharged?" She nods again, draining the rest of her drink. "Unreal," he comments.

He's about to stand to give her a refill on her drink before she stops him with her hand on his bicep gently. The gesture isn't meant to be sexual, but Johnny's face flushes unabashedly. "For what it's worth, I didn't throw you under the bus, Johnny. So you should be fine," she tells him.

He stares at her again. "You think that's a concern of mines, Sonya?" he questions her gently.

"I don't know," she mumbles sadly. "I just thought you should know for what it's worth, I've done everything and anything I could've to protect you and Cassie," she tells him. He stands next to her. "I'm sorry for putting my work above you two. There were so many things I missed out on because I continued to convince myself I was being a good wife and a good mother by protecting the world you live in. Before the warehouse, I finally asked myself, 'what's the good in trying to protect the people I love if I can't enjoy their company?' Everything I've ever worked for would've been in vain. I couldn't live with the threat of that bastard still breathing on this Earth after what he'd done to Cassie—"

"Cassie will be fine. She gets her strength from her mother," Johnny tries to tell her soothingly.

Closing her eyes, she shakes her head. "No, John. You don't understand. Despite everything he's put me through, if he did to me what he did to our little girl… I'd have eaten several bullets."

He frowns. "What… what are you trying to say, Sonya?" he asks slowly, not wanting to believe she's about to tell him what he thinks she's about to tell him.

To put it simply because she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud, she tells him, "He destroyed her, Johnny. And it's my fault."

"It isn't your fault Sonya. That was all me," he tells her.

"I could've stopped you and I didn't. So _I'm_ responsible," she points out. _She has a point there_ ; he's forced to admit to himself. "So, where do we go from here?" she asks him.

He shrugs. "Where do you _want_ to go from here?" he counters with.

Sonya takes a moment to think about her options. "Well, we're all gonna need therapy after this," she states bitterly. He nods in agreement. "I want us to work again, Johnny. To be a family. At least... can we _try_ again?"

"I never wanted to stop trying, Sonya," he tells her honestly. He gently brushes away a tear from her face with his thumb. "I thought I was giving you what you wanted when we got the divorce."

She lets out a choppy breath. "I royally fucked up that one didn't I?"

"I wasn't any better. I thought if I'd left you alone to your thoughts after coming home from missions, you'd come to me and talk. I should've asked, especially when each mission pulled you further and further away from us. And I'm sorry I used my drinking as an excuse to cope."

"I didn't mean to pull away from my family. I thought I was doing the right thing in protecting you both," she tells him as she begins to sob into her hands. He stands her up and pulls her into an embrace, her head leaning against his chest.

Almost an hour later, she reduces her sobbing to occasional sniffs. "Hey Sonya?" She looks up at her handsome ex-husband. "You're welcome to stay as long as you need to," he tells her; he suddenly remembers she brought her duffle bag with her.

She nods into his chest again. "I wasn't really thinking of just visiting," she starts to say. He looks at her in bewilderment. "At least, not temporarily." He lets her go and gazes into her sea green orbs. "I was thinking… or hoping rather, I could… I mean, could I possibly…" she struggles to ask him the dreaded question. " _May_ I come back home?" she asks him, blinking up at him. A smile slowly begins to spread on his face. The next thing she knows, she's being twirled around the kitchen and he loses his footing, sending them both crashing to the floor semi painfully. She lands on top of him, cradling his head with her hands. "So, is that a yes?"

"It's a 'hell yeah!' baby," he tells her. She rolls her eyes but goes in for a kiss, which he grants her. He wraps his arms tighter around her waist as they both get lost in their embrace. Unlike last time where their passion and desperation were apparent, their kisses this time are sweet and delicate, reminding them both of days when they were happy in one another's company. With a content sigh, Sonya leans her head on his chest again, listening to the steady thumping of his heart and is instantly reminded of a memory involving the linoleum floors. She smiles to herself as she gets lost in the recollection.

* * *

 _At eight and a half months pregnant, Sonya's cravings took a turn for the worst. She just about threatened to chop Johnny's balls off if he didn't comply with her request for Chinese takeout. So there the two of them sat Indian style on the linoleum tiled floors just outside the kitchen. She was working through her carton of General Tso's chicken while he polished off his standard order of shrimp and broccoli and was now sipping on his nearly empty coke. "So," he started, breaking the ice. She stopped chewing and gave him a sideways look. "Are you excited?"_

 _She scoffed playfully. "If by 'excited' you mean 'ready to get this over with'? Then yes, I'm very excited," she told him as she shifted uncomfortably on the floor. He reached over to hand her a pillow from the couch, which she gratefully accepted. "Three more weeks to go, kiddo," she muttered to herself as she rubbed her belly. She put down her box of food and reached for her banana milkshake. She shook the cup in her hand suspiciously; it felt lighter than it should have. Shrugging it off, she took a quick gulp of her dairy confection, something the baby didn't quite agree with. Combined with her flash of brain freeze, she squirmed uncomfortably. "Jesus, kid, those are my organs you're playing soccer with," she scolded playfully._

 _Apprehensive of her not wanting to be touched especially late in her pregnancy, Johnny fought the urge to ask if he could feel her stomach. So he settled with finishing off his coke instead. "I'm telling you, that boy's gonna be a screamer when he comes," he teased her._

 _She smirked. "Who says I'm having a boy? One male Cage is enough for me to contend with for the rest of my life," she countered back._

 _Throwing a hand to his heart dramatically, he said, "Ouch. You wound me woman." Rolling her eyes, she continued to pick at her food. "Speaking of names, would you be opposed to Johnny Jr.?"_

 _She scowled at him. "What did I just tell you?"_

" _Or we could name him after your dad and brother. You know, to honor them somehow?" he asked her. She swallowed and blinked back tears. "Wait. I didn't mean it like that," he backtracked awkwardly. "I just meant…" he trailed off again and sighed._

" _ **If**_ _the baby were a boy, it would have to be one or the other. Daniel Herman or Herman Daniel just sounds weird to me," she said to him, humoring him slightly. He flashed his famous grin at her. "But it doesn't mean we're having a boy, Johnny," she reiterated._

" _Can you blame me for trying?" Johnny asked her, pressing a small kiss to her cheek. She leaned into him, giving him the opportunity to swipe her beverage from her reach. Taking a quiet drink, he marvels at the taste, wondering when and how Sonya decided she liked bananas enough for a milkshake. "This isn't too bad," he complimented as continued to sip._

 _It took her a few moments too late to realize what he's done. "Hey!" she shouted at him, grabbing her drink out of his hand. Shaking the cup, there's even less milkshake left. "What the… you little shit!" she cursed at him. For good measure, she pinches him on the arm, causing him to yelp. He laughed at her scandalized reaction. "I really liked that shake! Where the hell is your drink?" To emphasize his point, he picks up his cup and sips noisily at it, indicating that it was already finished. After a few moments of glaring at him, she begrudgingly hands him her drink. "You're lucky I love you, Cage," she told him as she pouted and folded her arms._

" _I know, I know, you— wait… come again?" he asked._

 _With wide eyes, she realized her little slip of the tongue. Slipping back into her nonchalant façade, she said, "I said 'you're lucky, Cage'," she amended her statement._

 _He smirked knowingly at her. "No, that isn't what you said, Sonya," he informed her as he scooted even closer to her. She looked away, but he caught her chin with his hand gently, causing her to look up at him. "It's okay, Sonya. It's just me and you here right now. No need to be shy," he assured her._

 _With a sigh, she tried to fight the blush blossoming over her face. "I said… you're lucky I love you. I don't like sharing my food with anyone."_

 _He smiled. "Aww, I'm flattered," he told her honestly. He leaned in to give her a kiss which she deepened by snaking one arm around the base of his neck. When they pulled apart, he tenderly kissed her nose and rubbed a hand along the bulge of her stomach, feeling the baby kick under his touch. "Whoa! That's pretty damn cool!" he said. Sonya giggled._

" _That's because the baby senses you," she told him as she continued to guide his hand along._

" _You hear that, kid," he started, causing Sonya to roll her eyes at him, "your mom said she loves me."_

* * *

"What are you thinking about?" he asks her when he feels her smiling against him.

"Thinking about the one time I slipped and said I loved you," she muses.

He chuckles. "You mean the _first_ time?" he corrects her.

She laughs quietly under her breath. "You're a pain in the ass, John," she tells him as she takes out her phone.

"And you _love_ it," he gloats. She leans against him, presses her lips to his cheek and snaps a picture of the two of them. Uploading it to Friendships, she tags him in the picture with a caption that reads, 'This pain in the ass is _mine_.' It gets a few likes and comments from the other kombatants:

 **TakeedaBanana:** Aww!

 **SassyJacqui:** Super cute! But where's your selfie stick?

 **GonzoHanzo:** *high fives **KenshiFury** * you owe us, Kuai Liang and Jackson Briggs.

 **MadJax:** Fuck me.

 **AbsoluteSubZero:** This picture pleases me, Sonya Blade. This treachery is highly displeasing to me, Hasashi.

 **CassieCage:** So, which one of you is gonna get me from this place? Love you Eagle and Dove.

Sonya frowns.

 **SonyaTheBlade:** I resent being called the dove, Cass.

 **CassieCage:** That's exactly what I told Dad…

Sonya chuckles at her daughter's wit. She could get used to this feeling. As long as she had the support of her family and friends, she would start the long, winding process of healing with her annoyingly charming lover by her side. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, I kinda suck at epilogues, but there you have it. After all the shit that happened in this story, I had to throw in a little fluff bunny, so sue me. Welp, that's it for this one. I wanna thank all of you personally for sticking with me. Like I mentioned before, might play around with the idea of a sequel, but I don't want it to be plot-less either. While I think of it, I'll try to update my stories in other fandoms. If you happen to be a fan, stop by and show some support there as well. Thanks a lot guys!


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